The Amber Eyed Gladiator: Forbidden Games
by sakuratenshi89
Summary: CHAPTER 13 UP! He: prisoner of war with a royal past, sold to become a gladiator. She: princess with a royal future and past, the games were dedicated to her by her fiance. What happens when slave meets royalty? What happens when the forbidden games begin
1. Chapter 1

I'm sorry, I know I haven't updated my other stories in like forever, I come up with all these plots, but I can never finish the story. This is just a little something that I thought of one day at school. I hope you enjoy it. I'm working on the next few chapters already. Enjoy!!!!!

I fixed up some of the places. Instead of the Kinomotos being Roman, they are still Japanese, and the plot shifted somewhat. But yeah, I hope the story is still good.

**The Amber Eyed Gladiator: Forbidden Games**

By: Sakuratenshi89

Chapter One

_China, 85 A.D._

Chaos consumed the land. Men and women were running about with their children crying. There were cries of pain and agony over the deaths of loved ones. There was the shouting and begging of mercy and the dreadful sound of death. Death was in the air. One could smell in as they took a deep breath, they could sense it miles away.

No one was safe; they were either killed or taken captive. Few escaped. That is what war is all about. Hurting and killing other people who are considered to be the "enemy." Of course, nothing good ever comes from that, no one benefits from it, except for of course, the emperor, the one in control.

Buildings were being burned down every second. The place where a beautiful, charming village once stood was now a burnt, black, charred mass with a foul smell. Everything was burnt to a crisp, nothing was left. There was no such thing as mercy. If one was in the way, that person was automatically killed, no matter the gender, the age, whether you were royalty or just a common man.

Men were fighting against men. Somewhere going one on one with each other, in which there would be only one victor, the other, would die. There was blood spread across the ground on top of many dead bodies of men who had fought to protect their country. They had died in honor, but at the hands of a ruthless people. Some were able to put up good fights, others, they had no chance from the very beginning, not having been trained very well to their disadvantage.

What was once a beautiful country, now lay in a pool or red and black. There was no life here and there wouldn't be life here for a long time. The sky was a dark blood red, matching the land. All of a sudden all the yelling stopped and the land was covered with a deathly silence. It was as if someone had placed a pall over the country.

The captain looked on grimly from above on a mountain as his men continued slaying the Chinese army. The Chinese army was in no condition to fight against his army. He sat tall and proud on his magnificent steed. He was ruthless in the killings, any one who dared to attack him was asking for his own death. He watched his well-trained army as they plowed through the fields, killing everyone in their path, sparing few. He gave a grim smile as he watched some of his own men get slain, sacrifices had to be made; they were required for this job.

The air felt thick with blood and sweat. He heard more cries of pain and death. He clenched his fists on the reins tighter. He could feel it; it was almost over. But it would only be the beginning in truth.

"Sir," came a voice from beside the captain.

He turned to face the messenger.

"You may speak."

"The royal family has surrendered."

The captain l raised an eyebrow. "Well, it was about time they did too, before they had no more people in their country."

"Would you like me to deliver a message to them sir?"

"Yes, please do," said the captain. "Tell them that from now on they are under the rule of our country and they will be obliged to do whatever we ask of them. They are also now under our protection and are part of our country."

The messenger bowed.

"You may leave now."

The messenger stood up again, climbed back onto his horse and galloped off in the direction of the palace, which could be seen far off in the distance.

The captain closed his eyes, allowing his thoughts to wash over him. The wind blew at his already tousled dark brown hair as he sat on his horse, just letting his mind soak in his thoughts. His thoughts were about home, his family, and everything he had accomplished in his life.

"Pardon me sir," said a voice, abruptly interrupting the silence.

He turned at the voice and saw one of his generals. He saw behind the general a man held by four soldiers. He raised an eyebrow at the general.

The general bowed, along with the four soldiers, the man stood there, a scowl across his face, until the soldiers yanked him down on his knees, forcing him into a bowing position.

"Yes? What is it?" the captain asked indifferently, looking upon the group with no emotion, as he was trained to do.

The general rose and began to speak, "We believe that we have caught the captain of the Chinese army. He was fighting with some of our own men when a myriad of soldiers came running to him and began defending him. He told them to leave, but they said that since he was the captain, it was their duty to protect him. Capturing this man was another story altogether. To tell you the truth captain, he is very good."

The captain looked a bit amused. "Really?"

The general gave a slight nod.

"But not good enough obviously," the captain smirked at the frowning man.

The man growled and began pulling away from the soldiers who were holding him.

The captain could see that this man was very strong; the soldiers holding him were among the best in their army. And this man took four soldiers to hold down, whereas the normal man would only have two.

"He almost got away," admitted the general. "But we got him, as you see."

"Yes I do, so you say he is the captain of the Chinese army hmm?"

The general nodded fervently.

He turned to the man being held captive. "Well, are you the captain of the Chinese army?"

The man scowled even deeper.

"You will answer the captain," commanded the general, glaring at the captive.

"Enough, Yukito," said the captain, "let the man speak. It is his life that is on the stake."

The general, Yukito, grew silent from the orders of his captain. They both looked towards the man, who still refused to say a word.

"Do you know who I am?" asked the captain, giving the captive a cold smile.

"Of course I do," said the captive after a few moments of silence. The captain waited for him to go on. "You are Touya Kinomoto, the captain of the Japanese army, future emperor of Japan, son of the current Japanese emperor, Fujitaka Kinomoto."

"You speak our language," said an amused Touya, he was actually surprised that someone of Chinese heritage should know the language of the Japanese. It wasn't very often that one could find a bilingual person. That usually meant the person was either very clever or very rich and was able to afford a language tutor.

"Just as you speak ours."

"How many languages are you able to speak?"

> "I speak many languages."

"You speak our language fluently, you seem to be intelligent and very well educated."

"Much more than you I can guarantee it, baka" growled the prisoner.

"You will not speak that way to the captain," hissed Yukito, pulling out his sword and placing it upon the prisoner's throat, ready to slash it and kill him at the order of his commander.

"Calm down," said Touya.

"But…"

Touya glanced at Yukito sternly; effectively silencing the general and making him draw back his sword reluctantly. He then turned to the captive, who was still glaring at him and smirked, "You have spirit. I respect that. Now tell me your name."

The captive said stiffly, "I am Syaoran Li."

"Are you the captain of the Chinese army?"

"Why would it matter to you? I'm still going to end up with the same fate as the rest of the Chinese army and people have. It doesn't matter who I am, you will most likely still kill me just as the others have been killed."

"You _are_ bright indeed," said Touya, who was beginning to like this young man.

He rolled his eyes and stated sarcastically, "It does not take anybody smart to figure that out. So why do you care about who I am?"

"Because I wish to know. You still haven't answered my question, are you or are you not the captain of the Chinese army?"

"Yes I am the captain of the Chinese army," said the captive, Syaoran.

"Well, _captain_," said Touya, smirking still, "You will be coming back with us to Tokyo."

Syaoran looked rather surprised. "Why not just kill me here as you do with all the others. I will be useless to you in Japan. I am an outsider."

"You will be auctioned off in the slave market," said Touya coldly, he glanced over Syaoran's terrible condition. Syaoran's uniform was torn to pieces and he was smeared with blood and dirt. Even under all the dirty stuff, one could tell, Touya especially, that Syaoran was well built and was very able-bodied. Touya was trained to tell the good from the bad and that included picking out the good soldiers from the bad. And Syaoran was good, he also looked young, which meant he would be able to work for a pretty long time that was always a good thing.

Syaoran stared at Touya stonily.

"You are fit, young, and well educated, and will be sold for a high price. You even might be given as a gift to…never mind."

"So, I'm to become a slave," said Syaoran emotionlessly.

Touya rolled his eyes and said in a wry tone, "No, you're to become a citizen, that is what happens to the people who are auctioned off in the slave market."

"I have a question to ask this man," said Yukito. He looked at Touya, "May I have your permission to ask him a question?"

"You may."

"Thank you," said Yukito, bowing. He turned to Syaoran and asked, "Are you in any way related to the Li Clan?"

The captive was silent for a moment before answering, "I am a distant relative of theirs, but I have very little contact with them."

"That is all," said Yukito.

"Very well," said Touya, turning around from talking to the soldiers who had been holding Syaoran and making sure he hadn't escaped. "We will be setting out tomorrow at dawn."

Yukito and the soldiers bowed, only Syaoran stubbornly remained standing, much to the amusement of Touya.

"You may lead him away," said Touya, waving his hand, dismissing them from his sight.

_Emperor's Palace, Tokyo, Japan, 85 A.D._

Jealously and wistfully would be the correct words to describe the looks on people's faces as they looked upon the palace of the emperor. It was magnificent, created by the best architects there were in all of Asia. It stood tall and proud, carved of marble and engraved with gold and fine, rare gemstones. There was none other like it throughout Italy.

Of course, the actually occupants of the palace, one of them, did not find living in a splendid palace to be utopia. In fact she thought it was boring and hated it.

She stood at her balcony and looked down upon the marketplace not too far off. How she wished she could be down there, selling, and buying interesting foods and other things with the people of Japan. She didn't like being cooped up and pampered all the days of her life. She never got anything her way; sure she got almost everything she wanted, everything except for freedom.

She wished that she had been born into a more poor family, so she could experience all the freedom she ever wanted. Then she would not have to sit with the tutor all day and learn lessons on how to be a lady, she could just be whoever she wanted to be. Then she would not have to marry for political reasons, but could for love.

She sighed as she saw the people below her bustle about with baskets in their hands, carrying fruits, clothing, and other wonderful things. She placed her arms on the balcony rails and leaned forward, avidly watching the scene that was unfolding beneath her.

"Princess, do not lean too far!" reprimanded a voice.

The princess rolled her eyes at the owner of the voice. "Oh Chiharu, you worry too much, besides, what could possibly happen to me?"

Chiharu, the maid opened her mouth to answer, but the princess interrupted her.

"Don't answer that question. I've done much worse things," the princess smiled mischievously. She motioned for the maid to come a little closer, and then she whispered in her ear. "I've done some training with Touya before."

"Princess!" exclaimed Chiharu. "You know your father forbids it!"

"Yes I know," she sighed. "That's why you're not going to tell him." Her emerald green eyes begged the maid to keep this a secret.

It was Chiharu's turn to sigh, "Very well ma'am. I will not tell a single soul."

"Thank you!" shouted the princess happily as she threw her arms around the maid, shocking her. "You're such a great friend!"

"Princess, you are not allowed to hug servants, much less call them your friends! If we get caught, then we'll both be punished."

"Oh shush," scolded the princess. "I can do whatever I wish in this horrible place. Don't forget that my father is the emperor. I know I might sound like I'm bragging, but since I'm my father's only daughter, he spoils me and he would never hurt me. So even if I was caught hugging you, we wouldn't be punished."

The maid silently endured the princess's tight hug, for she knew that what the princess said was altogether very true.

"Thanks again Chiharu!" said the princess before returning to watch the scene below her.

"Don't forget that your father will be holding a party tonight!"

"I won't!" the princess said absentmindedly.

"You are expected to be there, your father hopes that you will find a suitable husband at the banquet. He's invited all the wealthiest and most prestigious bachelors in all of Asia and I heard, Europe, to come."

The princess snapped and whipped around saying, "I don't want to get married! Why can't father understand this! He wants me to marry someone who is wealthy and will take care of me; I want someone who loves me. I don't care if he is poor."

"I'm sorry princess," the maid said timidly.

Sakura took a deep breath, "No, I should be the one apologizing, I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just that, Father is placing too much pressure on me and I can't take it. I'm only sixteen, I'm too young for this."

"I was married at your age," said Chiharu quietly.

"But you married for love," said the princess just as quietly. "You were lucky you found someone who loved you just as much as you loved him when you were my age. All the males my age just want me for the money or for my looks. Yamazaki is a great man and one of my brother's finest generals. You are so unbelievably lucky that he is your husband."

"I know."

"Well, I'm going to take a short nap before the ball. I didn't get much sleep last night because some of the festivities that were being held. I just had to watch them, they were incredible."

Chiharu chuckled; the princess was as adorable and curious as a five-year-old girl.

"I'll see you later then Chiharu."

"Yes ma'am, I'll be back to help you put on your dress."

The princess smiled softly before she headed to her bed to rest.

Chiharu smiled and shook her head at the princess before leaving the room, for she had other chores to do before evening came.

_Journey Back to Japan, 85 A.D._

Two soldiers pushed Syaoran along the road, normally he would have pushed back, but his hands were tied together around his back, forcing him to comply with the soldiers' wishes. He frowned; this wasn't how everything was supposed to end. He wasn't supposed to lose. Not after everything he had gone through, he just couldn't believe it. He had definitely not planned on losing to some Japanese army.

They had been the best; no one had been able to stop them. Not until now. Now he had been defeated, as always there will be winner and a loser. He was the loser and he hated this position already. He was born to be a winner, never a loser. He had never been a loser until now, which meant he had much more to learn. He wasn't very happy with this either, he had always prided himself on being the best, but now, he wasn't. He was second place, or rather last, considering the position he was in at this moment.

Now he was on his way to Japan, and he would be sold there for a good, high price. Syaoran scowled deeply, he wasn't meant to be some slave. But hopefully, with some luck, he might earn his freedom once again. He prayed to the gods that he might once again be free and not live under servitude.

Syaoran glanced behind him and saw the kingdom where he used to live, where he had lived his whole life. It was now just a speck. He was further from home than he had ever been and though he wouldn't admit it, he was a bit scared of what was to come. All his life, the only place he had ever actually known was China. Sure he had heard of many other wondrous cities and countries, but he had never actually seen them.

"Move it!" a soldier grunted as he pushed Syaoran who had completely stopped moving.

Syaoran blinked and saw the faces of some angry soldiers and annoyed captives. He had not known that he was blocking traffic.

"Is something wrong?" asked Touya who had come from the front of the line. He had heard some of the uproar and had come back to check on them.

"N-no sir," said the soldier as Touya watched him through narrowed eyes.

'_Ha, what a coward,_' scorned Syaoran.

"All right then," said Touya, still watching them with narrowed eyes. "I expect there to be no more of this for the rest of the journey, otherwise, you will face the consequences, which I hope you are already well acquainted with." He steered his horse back towards the front after giving them a dark glare, as if daring them to cause a commotion once more.

'_Killing us is doing a favor for us_,' thought Syaoran bitterly as they once again began to move. '_There is no longer a reason for us to live, everyone we knew and loved are dead, or were left behind. We might as well be dead. We would definitely be better off._'

"Move," the soldier said gruffly, pushing Syaoran.

Syaoran glared at the soldier and glanced at his home country one last time before turning around and walking.

'_Goodbye…China_.'

A/N: Please review!!!!!! I hope it was a little better.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey, I'm probably going to continue with this story, since I like it so much. This is my edited version, where I changed the Kinomotos back into Japanese people. I'm just writing and there isn't a basic plot. Thanks to all the reviewers who reviewed my last chapter, even though it wasn't many!!! I'm expecting a lot more!!!

**The Amber Eyed Gladiator: Forbidden Games**

By: Sakuratenshi89

Chapter Two

_Emperor's Palace, Tokyo, Japan, 85 A.D._

"Princess, I can't put the dress on right if you keep on moving around like that," sighed Chiharu as she was helping the princess get ready for the banquet that night.

"Really, Sakura, Chiharu is only trying to help, so stop moving!" exclaimed a voice.

The princess turned around and saw a beautiful girl with laughing violet eyes and shining amethyst grey hair.

"Tomoyo!!" she shouted. "I can't believe you're here!! Daddy didn't tell me you were coming."

Her cousin giggled, "It was supposed to be a surprise, Sakura."

Sakura laughed, "Well it really is. I'll bet I know why you're up here."

Tomoyo looked at her innocently, "Oh, you do?"

"You're here to save me from being a total disaster, specifically a fashion disaster," said Sakura sadly.

"You know me too well," laughed Tomoyo. "Brighten up Sakura, by the time I'm done with you, you'll be the prettiest girl at the banquet."

"Thanks," smiled Sakura.

"Chiharu, you may leave now," said Tomoyo.

Chiharu bowed and left Sakura's room.

"Now, let me see." Tomoyo circled around Sakura, inspecting the formal light pink robes she had on. "I like it, but it needs a bit more here and there. And your hair!"

"What about it?" asked Sakura, touching her hair nervously.

"We need to put it up!"

"Oh, well okay, I'll just go call…"

"No, no, I'll do it!"

"But what about you Tomoyo? Don't you need to get ready for the ball?"

"I already have everything I need to do planned out," said Tomoyo. "I plan ahead."

"Yeah, sometimes too far ahead," muttered Sakura.

"What was that?" asked Tomoyo suspiciously.

"Nothing," Sakura smiled innocently.

Tomoyo rolled her eyes.

"All right, I was just saying that you need to live a little and loosen up. You shouldn't plan so much."

"You mean become like you?" asked Tomoyo, Sakura nodded. "Become a free spirit?"

Sakura nodded once again. "Life's too short, live it while you can."

"But you still need to plan every once in a while, you know," stated Tomoyo. "It doesn't hurt to think ahead."

"Yes it does," said Sakura stubbornly. "If you think ahead too much it will."

Tomoyo sighed, exasperated with her cousin. "We don't have time to argue, you better get ready, I think that guests are all ready arriving by this time."

"I really could care less," came the quiet reply. "Daddy is doing this because he wants me to find a suitable husband, and he assumes that I will find one at this banquet."

"And he is wrong?"

"Yes," said Sakura tersely. "What makes you think that any of the men at this banquet are here because they actually want to meet me? I'll bet if I looked real ugly they wouldn't come anymore unless daddy raised my dowry and the benefits of marrying me. They all come because I'm the princess, and they come because they think I'm pretty."

"But you are pretty," insisted Tomoyo.

"No I'm not," said Sakura mournfully. "Not like mother was, I'm just plain."

"Look at yourself in the mirror," demanded Tomoyo.

Sakura did so, but reluctantly.

"How can you say that you aren't pretty? You have the most unusual color eyes, green, they sparkle like emeralds, tell me that they aren't pretty. Your hair is like silk and when I run my hands through it, it slips through my fingers like water. But looks aren't everything. And I would be telling a lie if I said that your personality wasn't the most beautiful part of you," said Tomoyo.

Sakura gave Tomoyo a weak smile, "Now I know why you're my best friend."

"Why?"

"Because you see the best in me, you don't care that I'm the emperor's daughter, or that I'm rich, you like me for me."

"That's right," said Tomoyo. "You better believe that I like you for you."

"I'm looking for a man who loves me for the same reason why you love me as your friend," said Sakura. "My chances of finding him are slim to none. For all I know, he might not even be living in Japan, he might not even speak the same language as I do."

"But you speak many languages Sakura," said Tomoyo gently. "I know that you will find the one who is out there for you. I am sure of it. You will know whom he is when the time comes, and I will try to help as much as possible. After all, what are best friends for?"

"Thanks Tomo," said Sakura, hugging her friend tightly, wiping away her tears that had begun to fall at the beginning of Tomoyo's speech about her beauty.

"Now let's get you ready for the banquet shall we?" asked Tomoyo, handing Sakura a handkerchief, which she took gratefully.

Sakura nodded, smiling.

_Journey Back to Japan, 85 A.D._

Syaoran sighed heavily as they continued marching on. They had been walking nonstop for two days. Some of the captives just couldn't handle it, so they died on the road and were left to be eaten by wild animals. Others were just so weak that they were left to die by the orders of Touya Kinomoto, the captain of the Japanese army.

He scowled; they were a merciless and ruthless people. Killing people seemed to be just an everyday occurrence for them. They seemed to enjoy it too, which was just sickening.

"We don't enjoy war," said a voice quietly from beside Syaoran.

Startled, Syaoran turned and saw the captain himself, Touya, riding his horse beside him. He remained silent.

"Nobody enjoys killing, we do it for our country. Not all of us are bad people Li. We conquer other nations because we can, and because we are able to help them in their terrible state. Also we kill because it is our duty to protect the people, and defend our country," said Touya quietly.

"Why are you talking to me?" asked Syaoran suspiciously.

"Because I had nothing better to do," Touya said in a surprisingly light tone. "And I felt that you could use a bit of company, seeing how lonely you were down the line, all by yourself, without anyone to talk to you."

Syaoran looked at him skeptically.

"You want the truth?" asked Touya.

He nodded.

"Well the truth is, Li, I find you to be very interesting, you intrigue me," Touya said truthfully. "You are one of the few people who are very well educated and can actually hold an interesting conversation."

"What about that general who caught me?"

"Oh Yukito?" asked Touya, nodding towards the grey haired general. "He's great overall, but he can be dense when it comes to a few things."

Syaoran glanced at the grey haired man who they where speaking of. Come to think of it, he did look a little bit out there, as if he weren't from this world. He almost had a magical look about him. That was impossible though, the only people who knew magic were…it couldn't be, it just wasn't possible.

"Oh, so you sense it too hmm?"

Syaoran gave a slight jump, knocking him from his thoughts; he had completely forgotten that Touya was there.

"Sense what?" asked Syaoran gruffly.

"You know what I'm talking about," said an amused Touya.

Syaoran shook his head.

"Don't play innocent with me, I know that you know that I'm talking about…magic."

'_Wait,_' thought Syaoran. '_If he knows about magic and can feel that aura around Yukito, then that means…_'

It was then that Syaoran felt a burst of dark blue, almost black aura in the atmosphere. How could he have been so stupid? Obviously these men were very well trained and could hide their auras. Hiding the aura was a sign of great strength and ability. Only, how…

"I'll bet you're wondering how I was able to know that you have an aura," said Touya.

Syaoran gaped at him. It was as if he read his mind.

"I can't read minds," said Touya calmly, while inside he was laughing at the man, "The question was written all over your face. You shouldn't make your questions so obvious."

Syaoran scowled at the smug looking captain, making him smirk.

"If you really want to know how I found out, well let's just say I did some extensive research on the Li family, and I know who you really are, to tell you the truth, I know basically everything there is to know about you."

Syaoran panicked. "You can't tell them who I really am…"

Touya held his hand up, silencing the prisoner. "I won't, I am the only one who knows who you really are, and I'm not about to go around telling everyone."

"Thank you," said Syaoran quietly.

The two men remained silent, but in their hearts, they knew that there was a bond beginning to form, the bond of friendship that would be everlasting, no matter how stubborn they were, and how much they would try and deny it, they had a bond of eternal friendship.

_Emperor's Palace, Tokyo, Japan, 85 A.D_.

"Where is that girl?" muttered the emperor, who sat on his throne, giving a smile to everyone who passed by him. "I told her that she was supposed to be here before the guests arrive, and what does she do to me? She comes after all the guests have arrived, actually she's not even here yet!"

"Uncle Fujitaka?" came an excited voice.

Fujitaka looked up and saw his niece, Tomoyo Daidouji, and smiled warmly, "Hello Tomoyo, how are you today?"

"I'm doing great Uncle," said Tomoyo. "Sakura will be down in a few minutes."

Fujitaka smiled again, she had answered his question before it had even come out from his mouth. "Thank you Tomoyo, my, you just read my mind."

"I could tell by your face," laughed Tomoyo.

A hush spread over the banquet.

"She's here," smiled Tomoyo.

'_Why can't they just go on with whatever they're doing?_' thought Sakura as she walked down the path to her father, all the while self-conscious of her appearance as every person in the room stared at her. '_I'm just the princess; they don't have to stare at me as if I'm an alien or something. Don't these people have any sense of respect? They're making me really nervous._'

Sakura finally reached her father, much to her relief. She took her place next to her father, on his left. The seat to his right would be empty, and would be for a while.

"Let the feast begin!" announced Fujitaka as he stood up. "Enjoy!"

The guests cheered and they sat down and began feasting upon the many delicacies and fancy dishes that were placed before them.

Tomoyo sat on Sakura's left so Sakura would feel more comfortable, seeing as they were the only two women their age.

A tall, good-looking youth stood up and cleared his throat to get the attention of everyone in the room, and when he had it, he began to speak, his dark blue eyes focused on Sakura the entire time. "Let's give a toast to the emperor Fujitaka, may he live long, and to his beautiful daughter, the princess Sakura, may she also live long and find a suitable husband!" He raised his wine cup as a toast; the others followed him, drinking to their emperor and princess.

"That is Paulus Julianus the second," whispered Tomoyo to Sakura. "He's a very decent man from what I've heard about him. He's also very rich and handsome, he's the heir to the Roman throne."

"Tomoyo, not you too," moaned Sakura quietly. "I thought you were on my side."

"I am," said Tomoyo. "I'm just telling you that."

"I can find out by myself," said Sakura. "But thanks for the background information Tomo."

Tomoyo smiled and went back to her dinner. '_I know you'll find the one you love one day, and I'll help you, even if it kills me._'

_Journey Back to Japan, 85 A.D._

"You know, we could really use a break," said Syaoran, grinding his teeth to keep the pain in his legs from getting to him.

"You're the only one who's said that so far," commented Touya lightly.

"And you know why," hissed Syaoran. "It's because they're all afraid to come up to you and tell you that we need to take a break from all this walking. Yes, even your friend Yukito. So I'm telling you now: _we need to stop walking right now and take a break_."

"I'm not tired. Plus I don't think we should stop until we reach the shore where we docked our ships."

Syaoran rolled his eyes. "Are you trying to make me strangle you, or are you just stupid?"

"You wouldn't strangle me, not with my soldiers around, ready to strike you down at any second," smirked Touya.

"You're riding a horse," Syaoran ignored Touya's comment. "We aren't, of course you aren't tired."

Touya laughed sheepishly. "That's true isn't it?"

This comment made Syaoran sweatdrop; obviously the captain wasn't as bright as he had thought.

"All right, we're resting here for tonight," announced Touya as the army marched into a clearing with the prisoners of war.

Loud happy but tired cheers were heard from the crowd. Shouts of "Finally!" and "Thank you!" could be heard.

"What'd I tell you?" said a smug Syaoran. "I told you they were tired."

Touya scowled. "Shut up. If I didn't admire you so much, I'd strangle you right now."

They watched as the other soldiers and prisoners set up the camp before Touya set up his own tent with the help of Syaoran.

Syaoran sighed heavily as he finally got a fire going and he plopped down on a log next to it, holding his hands near the fire, trying to gather some heat.

Touya got out from his tent and sat down across from Syaoran and watched the prisoner try to warm himself. He kept silent, but watched him thoughtfully before speaking, "Do you ever miss them?"

Syaoran, startled, glanced up and looked at Touya, confused. "Miss who?"

"Your family."

"Of course I miss them, but I was taught to be able to live without them, why are you asking?"

"I was just wondering, you don't really seem like the family type of guy, you know, one who's married and has kids. Because if you were, I was just thinking, you would have been more, well difficult. You would have asked to say goodbye to your wife and kids or something."

"I'm only eighteen, you seriously think I would be married and have kids?" asked Syaoran, horrified.

"You're only eighteen?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Nothing, it just seems like you would be older, being the captain of the Chinese army and all," muttered Touya. "You're only two years older than the kaijuu, to think."

"I know, I'm young for a captain, but what can I say, I was the best out there," said Syaoran, then he asked, "Who's kaijuu, if I'm not mistaken, that means monster?"

"You're right, it does mean monster, but it's just my nickname for her."

"Okay," said Syaoran. "You're not really being anymore specific. I'd like to know who this '_her'_ is."

"Well not until you tell me who you really are."

"I already said I'm the captain of the Chinese army, what more could you want?"

"You aren't _just_ the captain of the Chinese army, are you?"

Syaoran knew this question was coming from before. But his tan face still paled a little before regaining it's natural light bronze color, he then asked Touya calmly, too calmly to Touya's liking, "How would you know who I really am?"

"I'm not completely stupid," said Touya with his eyes narrowed. "I know royalty when I see them, plus I've studied Chinese history, I think I've told you, and your surname is in there. We like to keep things up to date, so Li is the most recent royal family name we have. And according to our record keepers, Xiao Lang Li is the Prince of China, heir to the throne. Syaoran is the name you give us because it is your Japanese name."

"So, you know who I am. Does anyone else know?"

"No, just me. But I have a few questions I'd like to ask, _Prince_ Xiao Lang."

"You can call me Syaoran."

"All right then, _Syaoran_," said Touya, stressing his name. "What I'd like to know is why you left when us when you're the only heir to the throne."

"It's kind of a long story."

"Well I have all the time in the world then, you said the men were tired, I could give them longer time to rest."

Syaoran sighed before speaking, "Well you know I have magic. I am part of the Li Clan, or you could say the royal family of China. The Li Clan is run by the Li Elders, made up of the wisest and usually the eldest men in the Clan, they have total rule over everything, but of course my mother, the current ruler gets the final say in most situations. There has been this saying in my family for generations that one day '_To this family will one of the most powerful sorcerers in the world be born_.' My family was losing hope when no son had been born to my mother. So it was a shock when I was born to her, she would have never thought that after having four girls, she would finally receive a boy, me.Another thing about me shocked everyone. My aura was nothing like anything the Elders had ever seen, it seemed endless to them. It was amazing, from that moment on, they knew I would be very powerful. They knew that I was the one in the saying. And about me being the only heir to the throne, my mother is still able to run it, and if she isn't able, then my eldest sister can run it for me until I return home."

"What if you never return home?"

"Then my eldest nephew will. The Elders will be rather disappointed though, because they knew that I would be a great asset to the Li clan, with the magic I have, all my children and the generations to come would have magic. Right now, very few people in the Li clan have magic. I was raised to be the perfect Chinese emperor and Li clan leader, and losing me would be a great loss to my family."

"So you're basically going to be one of the most powerful magicians in the world?"

Syaoran nodded slowly. "I will have unlimited power, supposedly. I don't quite remember the saying."

"Well, what kind of magic are we talking about?"

"I don't know," shrugged Syaoran. "All I can do right now is summon up the elements and I can do a bit of other things. But I'm assuming it's the kind of stuff like with a flick of my hand a whole town sets aflame, or something like that."

"Oh," was all the stunned captain had to say.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't set your country aflame, even though I should. But maybe a thanks is needed, because this really is the start of my journey. So I guess I'm thanking you for capturing me, I would've never started my journey, if you hadn't come and invaded China and took me as a prisoner."

"Okayy," said Touya, glancing at Syaoran strangely. This guy was seriously strange. Who would thank their captor for capturing them?

Syaoran smirked. "Having some trouble digesting all that information I just gave you? If you need some help, I would gladly help you, captain."

Touya growled, even though he knew that Syaoran was just teasing. "You better shut that mouth of yours right now Li."

"I wasn't going to say anything else anyway," shrugged Syaoran. "I have something else I need to take care of before we go even further."

A/N: The next chapter probably won't be up for a while; I still need to do some editing.


	3. Chapter 3

This chapter might be changed later, just to warn you, because I like to go back and fix a few things every now and then when I think that something is wrong. But please review!!!!! They're appreciated so much!!!! This chapter is dedicated to them!!!!!

**The Amber Eyed Gladiator: Forbidden Games**

By: Sakuratenshi89

Chapter Three

_Emperor's Palace, Tokyo, Japan, 85 A.D._

The banquet was now over and it was time for the dancing, the best part had just begun. As usual, men were lined up to get one dance with the beautiful princess, all in hopes of courting and possibly in the future, wedding her.

"Princess, dance with me!"

"No, with me! He's just after your money, dance with me!"

"As if you aren't after it either!"

"Ignore them, dance with me!"

Sakura rubbed her head, feeling a migraine coming; this one was a big one. How was she ever going to get out of this situation?

The crowd of men suddenly parted, giving way to the tall fellow who had stood up and given the toast to the Kinomoto family before. He walked toward Sakura, his steps full of confidence, he looked almost cocky.

He bowed deeply before Sakura and when he stood up, he said, "May I have this dance, your highness?"

Sakura gave him a tight smile before turning her head towards her father and Tomoyo, who both nodded, giving their consent; she reluctantly held her hand out for him to take.

They began dancing around the marble floor, they looked just like other couples around them, but they seemed to give off a sort of silvery glow. They seemed to make the perfect couple, her, a princess, him from a very wealthy and old family. He was handsome, she was beautiful, they seemed perfect, well not to her.

"I'm sorry, if I'm rude, but who are you?" asked Sakura, even though she knew perfectly well who he was. She was testing him.

He smiled and apologized, "I'm sorry, I was the rude one wasn't I? I am Paulus Julianus, the second, here at your service."

"Paulus," said Sakura, then she gave him a genuine smile. "That's a nice name."

"Thanks, you can call me Paul. I like it myself, I'm glad my parents gave me a decent name, even though it is my father's," laughed Paul, his deep sea blue eyes twinkling.

Sakura watched him thoughtfully as they continued to dance. He really was a decent man. He was very different than all the others she had ever known and she really liked him, which didn't happen very often. Paul was a handsome young man, only a few years older than her, she thought. He really did have nice blue eyes too, set in a tanned face, framed with honey blond hair. He was like a Roman god in real life. He was everything a girl could ever ask for.

"How old are you princess?" asked Paul, interrupting Sakura's thoughts.

"I'm sixteen, what about you?" asked Sakura.

"I just recently turned nineteen," he said. "Only three years older than you."

'_I can count_,' thought Sakura, irritated, she put on a smile and said, "Really? Well happy belated birthday."

"Thank you princess."

"I heard you're the heir to the Roman throne."

"I am."

"Do you want to be?"

"I suppose I do, because I believe I can help the people and that I can continue the works that my father has started. But in other ways I don't want to. I can't stand being guarded and enclosed in a palace for the rest of my life and I wish for freedom. But it is my duty to be the next emperor and I cannot just give it up."

"I see."

A silence fell upon the two, for Sakura, it was a great relief, to Paul, it was frustrating, the princess was obviously not very talkative. The dance ended and they left the ballroom and walked outside, feeling the cool night breeze brushing their faces lightly and soothingly.

"Have you heard of the Colosseum, princess?"

"Yes I have, it is a great accomplishment I heard and that it will change Roman history and world history forever."

"It is very grand. Would you ever like to go see one?"

"Not really, I find the actual games rather appalling," said Sakura quietly.

"Really?" asked Paul, curiosity aroused. "You're one of the first people I've heard that from, do explain."

"It is barbaric, people shouldn't think of killing as a sport. It isn't. Watching two people battle for their lives is something that does not exactly appeal to me. It is sickening. I don't know why it was even started; it is barbaric, watching men kill each other. It's not fun."

"True. But it makes the people happy."

"Why not make the people happy using a different method?"

"I don't know," mused Paul. "I guess us Romans have always thought of the gladiator games as fun and highly entertaining and to get in does not cost a lot of money."

"What if you were the person out there?" asked Sakura, she was not about to let this topic drop any time soon, Paul could see. "What if you had family to live for but you got killed? Would you find it so great to be out there and fighting for your life while people cheered you and your opponent on, wanting one to kill the other? Is it as appealing then?"

"I get your point princess," said Paul gently.

Sakura blushed, she really hadn't meant to go on and on about it, it's just that she really did not like watching those disgusting games. "I'm sorry."

"There's really no reason for you to be sorry, I completely understand why you said the things you did and I'm actually beginning to agree with what you said. It makes sense now that I think about it and it is rather disturbing."

"I'm glad somebody agrees with me. Well, if you don't like the games very much, why do you attend them?"

"It's mostly because of my father and my future as the emperor," explained Paul patiently as Sakura sat down on the marble steps and leaned her back against a beautifully carved pillar. "My father and my people like the games so much and it pleases the people and we all wish to see the people happy. It makes the people happy to see that we, the royal family, are there watching with them. So I go with them."

"I see," said Sakura.

"Maybe one day you can come and see a game with me," suggested Paul.

"I'm not sure," hesitated Sakura.

"Come on princess," begged Paul. "Just one game."

"But Rome is very far away and I've never been outside of Japan before."

"Think of it as an adventure."

"A very barbaric adventure," muttered Sakura.

Paul laughed then begged her again, "Please princess? I'll arrange everything and you can even bring a friend."

"Well I suppose Tomoyo would want to come too," said Sakura, her resolve quickly weakening as she saw the cute puppy dog look on Paul's handsome face. "And it would be a rare experience. I'll have to ask Daddy."

"Tomoyo?"

"My cousin, the one who sat next to me during dinner."

"Ah."

"You don't know her?"

"No, I do know who she is, I was just so interested in you, I forgot about her for a second there. I believe that she is the daughter of Sonomi Daidouji, who was a relative of your mother, the late Queen."

Sakura got a misty and faraway look in her eyes. "Yes, her mother is a cousin of my mother. They were the best of friends."

"Tell me about your mother," said Paul quietly as he sat down next to Sakura and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I'd like to know more about her, from what I heard, she was a great person, beautiful on the inside and out."

"That was true. She was the best mother a girl could ever have, but of course I didn't know her for very long. She died when I was only three, but the memories I have of her are those I cherish the most in my heart. She was the whole world to me. She understood me."

"I would have liked to meet her."

"You will someday."

"How do you know?" Paul asked, removing his hand from her shoulder and enclosing her small hand with his own large one.

"I'll even bet that she's watching over us right now and smiling down on us."

"I wasn't originally the heir to the throne you know. I had an older brother."

"What happened?"

"I lost my older brother when I was young," said Paul sadly. "He died when I was eight, he was only twelve."

"How'd he die?" asked Sakura, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"He was never very strong to begin with, but he was the best brother I could ever have. He protected me from out parents even though he was so sick. He loved me more than my parents ever will."

"I would like to meet him one day."

"He's watching over us, just like your mom is," smiled Paul.

"Mmm."

Paul placed his head on top of Sakura's.

"Do your parent's not love you?"

Paul stiffened. "It's not quite like that, well not exactly anyway."

"You can talk to me about it."

"Are you sure?" Paul asked, hesitating. "I really wouldn't like to burden you with my family problems."

"No, it's fine."

"All right," Paul relented. "Well my parents are the type who don't show much love. Being the emperor and the empress they have a duty to protect the country and protect the people. All they care about is popularity with the people, fame, how they're going to make history, and money and how they're going to get more of it. I was raised by my nurse, who to me is like my mother, she retired when I was old enough to look after myself, but still looks after me whenever I'm sick."

"I'm sorry," said Sakura softly.

"It's not your fault."

"I know."

"My older brother always took care of me, he always took the blame whenever I did something wrong. He died and my parents never knew that he was always the innocent one; I was the one who did everything they didn't like. He never did anything wrong, yet he was called the 'family disgrace' and I was the 'family angel'. It was more like the other way around. I'll never forgive myself for letting my brother die with all of my blame," declared Paul his blue eyes shone bright with unshed tears.

"I think your brother knew that he was going away soon," said Sakura wisely. "He didn't want to see his little brother suffer like he did so he took all the blame, so you would be innocent. If he saw you like this, pitying yourself and blaming yourself right now, he would be angry. All that he had done for you would have gone to waste. Move on Paul, your brother did it for you. You should accept it and move on."

"But I have moved on," argued Paul. "It's been eleven years already."

"No you haven't," said Sakura. "If you have then you wouldn't remember all those terrible memories, you would only remember the good times. That is moving on."

"I'm trying," said Paul huskily.

"Tell me more about yourself," said Sakura. "I'd really like to know you better."

"So would I," said Paul, lifting his head off of Sakura's, making her look up at him.

"You probably know most about me already. I'll tell you about myself some other day, but right now, I want to know about you."

"Well, I was raised to be the best I could be. My parents raised me up so that I would marry a girl of high class, preferably someone richer than we were, so we could become even richer. Even though we are the richest family in Italy, I'm not bragging, because we are the royal family. They wanted me to be the perfect prince. I learned everything that was possible, music, fine arts, books, poetry, everything. I could probably do everything you know how to do."

"Really?" asked Sakura, interested.

"Yes."

"That's very intriguing," said Sakura. "I've never met a man in my life who would ever admit they could do everything a woman could do. You're the first."

"You're the first I've ever told this to, not many people know this," admitted Paul. "I don't really like announcing this to people I've just met. But with you, I feel like I've known you for a long time."

"Maybe you have," said Sakura, amused. "I know how you feel, you do seem rather familiar, but I would know if we've met before."

"So would I, but it doesn't matter," shrugged Paul. "What's past is past."

"But sometimes the past is important," said Sakura.

"My, you're just full of wise remarks today aren't you princess?" teased Paul.

Sakura pushed him playfully on the shoulder, "Be quiet. I can't help it when I say things like that, it just, well…comes out naturally."

"Ah, so tell me, _wise one_, why is the past important?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "You've taken history right?"

Paul nodded. "Of course, it was part of my curriculum."

"Well history is important right? And it is in the past, so the past can be important. For example, the day you finished building the Colosseum. That's a very important day in the past isn't it?"

"True," muttered Paul. "Why didn't I see it like that?"

"Because," said Sakura smugly, "I'm smarter than you. Admit it!"

"Never!" said Paul, looking scandalized. "The day I admit a woman is smarter than me is the day I die!"

"Then," Sakura said in a low voice, "get ready to die!!!"

The two young people began chasing each other around the palace, getting strange looks from other guests and servants. But they didn't care; they were having the time of their lives.

_Li Palace, China, 85 A.D._

"My son, take care of yourself," whispered a beautiful Chinese woman as she glanced out the window of her room. She sat in her chair rigidly; her still raven black hair was pulled back. Her amber eyes held much wisdom and concern for her lost son.

The Chinese royal family had just surrendered a few days ago to the Japanese army. They were now under the control of the Kinomotos. That wasn't very important though, the most important thing was one of the worst things that could ever happen to the Li family. One of their family members was missing. Li Xiao Lang. The heir to the Chinese throne, the future leader of the Li Clan, but most importantly, beloved brother, and though unbeknownst to him, beloved son.

"Ma-ma."

Yelan Li turned around. "Yes Feimei?"

"Is little brother ever coming back home?" asked the girl, Feimei, she had been the closest to Syaoran, being the closest to him in age, only older than him by two years. She was his best friend, and his favorite sister.

"I don't know," murmured Yelan sadly. "I don't know."

"Ma-ma?" Feimei asked in a small voice.

"Hmm?" Yelan lifted her head slightly from her embroidery in her lap to indicate to Feimei that she was indeed listening.

"I hope he will come home soon."

"So do I Feimei, so do I."

"Is there anything we could do to help him hurry home?"

"We can't interfere with what Destiny has in store for our Xiao Lang," said Yelan in a low voice. "But we can guide him when he is in need, or when he is down. We can't abandon him, we need to stay by him the whole time."

"I understand Ma-ma," said Feimei wisely.

"Ma-ma," said Fanren, the oldest at twenty-nine came walking into Yelan's chambers, "There is a messenger here to see you."

Yelan stood up and sighed. She placed her unfinished piece of embroidery on her chair and left the room.

'_Although Ma-ma doesn't normally show it, she really cares for little brother_,' thought Feimei. '_Perhaps she finally realizes the way she treated him when he was growing up. But what if it is too late now? What if little brother never knows that Ma-ma cares for him? Will he die knowing that Ma-ma never loved him; he was just recognized because he was the only son and the heir to the throne and the clan? No, I can't think that way, little brother is not dead, he is alive and we all know it perfectly well. Syaoran can't die after everything he's gone through, it would be too easy. He is strong, he will survive through all this._'

"What were you just talking about?" asked Fanren.

"Xiao Lang," said Feimei quietly. "I miss him."

"I know, so do I," Fanren sighed. She remembered all those times when Xiao Lang would come running into her room when he was young because he had had a nightmare or had been hurt badly. She was practically his mother, more so than Yelan. Yelan was always busy and so she never had time to pay attention to her children. So Xiao Lang had sought for some motherly love from his eldest sister.

"He was like your son, wasn't he?"

"Yes," said Fanren. "In many ways, he was."

"I wish that Ma-ma could have seen how much Xiao Lang needed a mother. She was always so busy taking care of the kingdom after father died a few years after he was born."

"I think Xiao Lang holds some resentment towards Ma-ma for the way he was treated and ignored by her," said Fanren quietly. "He once asked me why he was born into this family. Did you ever see the way he would look at Ma-ma so coldly whenever she addressed him? He had become a completely different person. He hated her for the way she would never help him and dress his wounds when he had come back from a horrible session with the Elders. She was never there when he broke his arm, when he had his first nightmare, she was just never there."

"I know Fanren," said Feimei. "But we always had each other. You, me, Fuutie, Shiefa, and Xiao Lang. It was always the five of us." She spoke of the other two sisters that made up the royal family.

Fuutie had married and disappeared soon after her marriage. It made sense, for she had married against the will of Yelan and the Li Elders. The man was not respectable, they had argued, he was not from a good family, he was poor and had little to offer. But Fuutie had been stubborn, she loved him and he offered her love, which was all she would ever need in her life. Yelan then threatened to disown her second eldest daughter, but before she could, Fuutie had eloped and run away.

Shiefa was traveling the world; she was the adventurous one that could never stay in one place for very long. She had left them at the young age of twenty, four years ago. She had not come home, except for once. That was the last time that the Li siblings had all been together, all five of them. Her visit home was brief, only staying for a few days before leaving once again. That had been two years ago. They still received some messages from her every now and then whenever she was able to find someone to bring the message. From those messages, they understood that Shiefa was having the time of her life and there were very few words to describe what she felt.

Feimei and Fanren were now the only ones left at home.

"That was what got us through," smiled Fanren. "That was what got Xiao Lang through. Though we are now down to three, we will continue to pray for our sister and brother. We are still family and family stays together no matter what."

Feimei smiled weakly. "I made a promise to myself that I would stay here to wait for little brother's home coming. I will wait for him forever if needed."

"And I will wait with you," said Fanren lowly. "For he is also my beloved brother."

'_Oh little brother, come back to us soon!_'

A/N: Thanks to all the reviewers from my first two chapters, even though there weren't many!!!! Thanks to Avelyn Lauren, AnonymousT, Kawaii Bunnii, Rumpleteasza, AnimeObsessionFantasy, Time Warp, Ice Jayden, SibylSofiana, and dreamschemer.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey! Thanks for all of u guys who reviewed. I really appreciated it!!

**The Amber Eyed Gladiator: Forbidden Games**

By: Sakuratenshi89

Chapter Four

_Li Palace, China, 85 A.D._

Yelan entered the throne room, her skirts sweeping the floor. She stood tall and regally, despite the fact that her kingdom had recently surrendered to another. She stood in front of the messenger who was waiting for her in the middle of the room.

"Your Highness," he said and bowed deeply.

Yelan inclined her head slightly as a greeting. "I heard you had a message for me. You may speak."

"I have a message from someone you may know."

"Go on."

"Li Xiao Lang?"

Yelan breathed sharply. "Continue."

"He says to tell you to tell his sisters that he is fine and in good hands. No one should be worried for him. He is on his way to Japan. He says that yes he was captured, but all is well."

"Is that it?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Very well," said Yelan as she placed a few gold coins into his hand.

The messenger bowed and left the palace, following the guards out the door.

"What was that about Ma-ma?" asked Fanren curiously.

"It was a message from Xiao Lang," said Yelan, rubbing her temples. "He says that he is in good hands and not to worry."

Fanren beamed. "Well that is good isn't it?"

"I suppose, but I can't help but worry."

"You never really worried before?"

"I was not allowed to, for he was in training and needed to learn how to continue living without love from the ones he needs it from."

"What the Elders say is rubbish, love is what got him through all their training."

"I know that now," said Yelan tiredly. "I was not so wise back then as I am now. But it is too late, the one person I need to apologize to is gone and I don't know for how long. If only I had recognized my mistake earlier, this would never have occurred."

"You cannot change the past Ma-ma."

"I know, I know."

_Journey Back to Japan, 85 A.D._

"Did you get done whatever you went to do?" asked Touya curiously as Syaoran walked back to his tent.

"Yes."

"Well, what did you go do?" pressed Touya.

"Send a message."

"What, of help?"

"No."

Touya nearly ripped out his hair. "Can you please answer me with more than just a 'yes' or a 'no' or something longer than just three words."

"I sent a message to my family," said Syaoran. "There are you happy now? That was seven words."

Touya groaned.

"Fine, I was telling my family not to worry about me and that I'm fine and in good hands."

"Oh."

"You're probably surprised that I considered you to be trustworthy huh?"

"Yeah, I am."

"I just figured I could trust you because you seem pretty honest," shrugged Syaoran. "I was raised to be a good judgment of character and I can read auras. Your aura tells me that you're honest and not trying to trick me into anything."

"You can really read all that from just my aura?" asked an amazed Touya.

"I was trained to do it."

"You're just full of surprises aren't you?"

"You have no idea."

"Well _Syaoran_," said Touya. "I just wanted to tell you that we will be reaching the ships tomorrow and we will set off towards Japan."

Syaoran shrugged, it didn't really matter to him as to where they were going.

"Sleep well, for we won't be making _any_ stops tomorrow." And with that statement, Touya turned around to return to his tent for some rest before the journey tomorrow.

"I have a question," said Syaoran suddenly, making Touya stop in his tracks.

"Yes?"

"You never explained to me who this girl is that you were talking about before, you know, the one you called a _kaijuu_?" said Syaoran; he smirked, knowing that Touya had thought that he had forgotten that whole conversation. He really didn't know why the captain was so reluctant talking about her this girl.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Well, I told you about my family, you should tell me about yours."

"Technically, you didn't tell me about your family, just you."

Syaoran scowled. "You said that you would tell me about this person after I told you why I came with you so willingly."

"Fine," sighed Touya, as he began speaking reluctantly. "She's my sister, Sakura. I was just thinking of her, she is sixteen right now and I suppose father would be holding a banquet for the suitors." He scowled at this. "I don't really approve of her marrying so early."

"Overprotective much?"

Touya growled. "Shut up Li. I'll bet that you have some siblings that you're overprotective of."

"True," said Syaoran. "But I don't control their lives, I just merely guide them."

Touya snickered. "Oh, is that the term for control freak today? A guide?"

"Whatever," said Syaoran, narrowing his eyes. "Just continue."

"I just hope that we get back in time before the banquet so I can scare away all the suitors, or that the kaijuu has already scared all of them away with her monster traits."

"Is your sister that ugly?"

"No," said Touya. "I wish she were though. Then she wouldn't attract men like bees to honey."

"Oh, so she's quite the opposite."

"Yeah."

"Is she like you in any way? Because that would be just plain scary," said Syaoran, shuddering at the thought of a girl who was exactly like Touya.

"She's my opposite. Though I wish she were like me, then I wouldn't have to make sure she'd never get married, because she wouldn't ever get married."

"Geez, you'd think that some people would be glad to get rid of their siblings," muttered Syaoran.

"Well not me."

"Why not?"

"Because she's _my_ sister!"

"You don't own her."

"You wouldn't understand."

"Oh yeah? You wanna bet?"

"Listen Li," Touya sighed heavily. "Just drop it okay? You really wouldn't understand. It goes deeper than…just forget it."

"Fine."

_Emperor's Palace, Tokyo, Japan, 85 A.D._

"So, Sakura, how was the ball?" asked Tomoyo eagerly. She wanted all the fine details of her cousin's night.

"It was…" said Sakura dramatically. "Awful."

"What?" gasped Tomoyo. "But whenever I looked at you, you seemed to be having the time of your life."

With that, Sakura started laughing. "The look on your face was priceless!"

"Sakura!!!" huffed Tomoyo. "That wasn't a very nice joke."

"Yeah it was," giggled Sakura.

"Now tell me the truth."

"All right," said Sakura. "It was awesome. I met the most wonderful man in the world."

"I told you he was a good man," said Tomoyo knowing that Sakura was speaking of Paul.

"You were right," she grudgingly admitted.

"When will you see him again?" asked Tomoyo.

"We're meeting tomorrow in the afternoon in the gardens. I found out that he is going to be staying in one of our guest houses."

"How interesting," said Tomoyo slyly. "Are you going to meet him in the gardens at midnight? Sneak outside for a little midnight rendezvous? That would be so romantic."

Sakura laughed nervously as she saw Tomoyo's starry-eyed look. "No, we aren't going to do anything like that."

"Yet," smirked Tomoyo.

"Ye…Tomoyo!!!!" Sakura turned beet red. "I don't even know the man that well!"

"I'll bet that he kissed you or you kissed him," said Tomoyo. "You did didn't you!"

Sakura turned an even darker shade of red if possible and muttered something that was too low pitched for Tomoyo to decipher.

"What was that?" asked Tomoyo, cupping her hands to her ears.

"He kissed me," mumbled Sakura.

"Where?"

"Why do you need to know this Tomoyo?" whined Sakura. "Geez, sometimes you're even worse than Touya!"

"I just want to know, I'm your best friend, and best friends tell each other everything."

"Fine," pouted Sakura. "He kissed me…"

"Don't keep me waiting!!! Where??? On the cheek, on the lips, on the neck!"

"Tomoyo!!!"

"Then talk!"

"Fine, he kissed me on the lips," Sakura blurted out finally.

"Oh, is that it?" asked Tomoyo, disappointed. "You guys didn't make out or anything right?"

"We just met for Kami's sake!" cried Sakura.

"It would have been terribly romantic," sighed Tomoyo. Her cousin's life was rather boring to her utter disappointment.

"What about you?"

"W-what about me?" stuttered Tomoyo.

"Your night yesterday at the banquet of course!"

"So?"

"How did it go?" asked Sakura, evilly.

"It's not really as exciting as yours or nearly as important as yours was," said Tomoyo nervously.

"Spill! I want details!"

"Okay then, fine, I got drunk and then ended up making out with some person in the gardens," confessed Tomoyo, turning bright red.

"Kami!" breathed Sakura, "Did anything happen? Oh Tomo-chan, you didn't sleep…"

"No, no!" cried Tomoyo, horrified. "I would've killed myself if I did, we kind of just passed out and fell on top of one another. I don't even remember who he is. I just left him there in the gardens because I woke up before he did. I couldn't face the embarrassment of confronting him."

"I'm sorry I asked Tomoyo," said Sakura as she hugged her cousin. "I didn't know."

"It's okay," said Tomoyo. "I needed to tell someone sooner or later and I'm glad it was you."

"You can trust me, I won't tell a single soul."

"I believe you, Saku."

"Lady Daidouji! I know you're in there!" yelled a voice from outside Sakura's door. "Open this door up, or I will knock it down!"

"Who is it?" asked Sakura in a frightened voice.

"Just open up this bloody door!"

"Don't Sakura," begged Tomoyo. "What if it's that man I got drunk with!"

"Well, we'll just have to see won't we," said Sakura bravely as she reached for the handle of her door and opened it.

A man with messy clothes fell through the doorway. He shifted his eyes from Sakura who was standing next to the door to the woman behind her, Tomoyo.

"You can't hide from me," he drawled. "I know you too well."

"Stop following me!" snapped Tomoyo. "Leave me alone, I'll call the guards if you don't!"

"Just hear me out!" he shouted with a certain note of desperation in his voice.

"No, why should I?" asked Tomoyo haughtily. "You've never given me a good reason before!"

"Because, it's for your own good!"

"Um…I hate to interrupt this _lovely_ little um…reunion here, but Tomoyo, who is this man?" asked Sakura, who was confused and utterly lost.

"Uh…well…you see, he is…" began Tomoyo nervously.

"I'm her fiancé."

"WHAT????"

_Aboard the Fune no Nadeshiko, 85 A.D._

Syaoran watched amusedly as some of the soldiers and generals, namely Yukito, turned a bit green. He was a little seasick himself, but was trained to not show it, for it would be a showing a sign of his weakness.

"Having fun out here?" asked Touya dryly.

"I think I've seen enough ocean to last me a lifetime."

"I know, but when you get to live on an island your whole entire life, you get used to it."

"Your men don't seem to be."

"I used to go out with my father everyday on a ship and just sail, try and see if we could catch anything," reminisced Touya.

"Isn't he the emperor?" asked a confused Syaoran.

"He was, is," corrected Touya.

"Then how would he have the time to take you sailing?"

"He always made time for me and my sister."

"Oh. Don't you have a mother?"

"She died when I was ten."

"Oh."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Didn't your father or mother ever take you out anywhere?"

"My father yes, but he died when I was five; my mother never had time for me, if she did, it was to scold me for something I didn't do good enough even though everyone else knew that no one could do it any better than I had."

"Not exactly the loving type huh?" asked Touya.

"No."

"For someone who was raised to terribly, you seem to have turned out just fine."

"I have four older sisters," said Syaoran flatly.

"Oh," Touya winced. "I can imagine the torture you went through."

"They were alright most of the time," recalled Syaoran. "At least they were there for me. Other times they were just plain as hell annoying."

"I have a younger sister, she can be like that too."

"But that's different, they don't go chasing you around the whole palace trying to dress you up or pinch your cheek saying 'Aw, isn't little brother so cute?'" grimaced Syaoran.

"True."

"I think you better go take care of your men," said Syaoran as he saw a few soldiers bend over the rail of the ship and clean out the contents of this morning's breakfast from their stomachs.

Touya turned a little green himself before saying, "I don't think so, they can take care of themselves, they're tough."

Syaoran shrugged, "Suit yourself."

"Hey captain!"

"Yes?" replied Touya.

"I don't think that General Yukito is feeling too well."

Touya rolled his eyes. "What now?"

"He's been throwing up non-stop."

Touya grimaced, "That's very nice to know."

"What should we do."

"Let's just hope it's the sea that is getting to him. Put him in bed and place a bowl next to him and stay with him for the night. I'll check up on him in the morning."

"Yes sir!" the soldier bowed and left.

"Excuse me," Touya whispered to Syaoran before running to the edge of the ship and leaning over the rail himself.

"You're very used to the ocean," smirked Syaoran.

"Be quiet," moaned Touya as he stood up straight before turning green again and leaning back over.

Syaoran wrinkled his nose in disgust as the smell reached his nose. This was going to be one _long_ boat ride.

A/N: This chapter was about a thousand words shorter than my previous chapters. Yeah, I count, I know I'm weird, but I try and make my stories really long, I like 'em long. And by the way, Fune no Nadeshiko means Nadeshiko's ship. My Japanese grammar is really crappy, so if anyone knows how to really write it in Japanese, please tell me in your review!!!! Well the next chapter might take a bit longer to update!!!!

_The Crystally Water__: The story is SS and ET, don't worry, it'll all turn out fine in the end. And Paul's biography thingy will come in a later chapter; he's the heir to the Roman Empire and about the thing where Sakura thinks that she's met him before will come later too! Don't wanna ruin the story!!! _


	5. Chapter 5

It's me again!!! This is another short chapter. I'll try and make the next chapter longer, but I can't really promise anything!! Anyway, enjoy!!

**The Amber Eyed Gladiator: Forbidden Games**

By: Sakuratenshi89

Chapter Five

_Emperor's Palace, Tokyo, Japan, 85 A.D._

"Sakura!" yelled Tomoyo, panicking as she saw her cousin fall onto the floor in a dead faint. "Catch her!"

The man caught Sakura before she reached the floor. He placed her on the bed gently before facing an angry, red-faced Tomoyo.

"What the hell were you thinking!" she hissed venomously, making sure not to disturb Sakura.

"I was only stating the truth," the man said calmly.

"Well, the truth is, I'm not marrying you," sniffed Tomoyo. "I hardly even know you."

"What do you call those two years that we spent together?" asked the man angrily.

"You deceived me," accused Tomoyo.

A moan escaped from Sakura's mouth just then, interrupting the couple's argument.

"What happened?" murmured Sakura.

"You fainted sweetie," said Tomoyo. "Do you need anything?"

"An explanation would be nice."

Tomoyo sighed. She would have to tell Sakura this sooner or later. "Well this man here, though he isn't really a man at all, just a lying, deceiving, conniving little son of a…"

"Tomoyo!" exclaimed Sakura. "Just introduce me to him."

"This is Eriol Hiiragizawa," Tomoyo said reluctantly. "Also known to you as Eli Moon."

"So you're the man who made Tomoyo fall in love with you," said Sakura. "Congratulations, I didn't think that Tomoyo was ever going to fall in love with anybody."

Eriol smirked at Tomoyo, making her fume; Sakura could've sworn there was steam shooting from her ears.

"Sakura! You don't know what this man did to me!"

"Well, I'm waiting."

"It was true, I was in love with him, but the man I was in love with was Eli Moon, not Eriol Hiiragizawa. I met him when I was in England," explained Tomoyo. "We went out a couple of times and had fun and we fell in love. I went to go introduce him to my mother. My mother hadn't told me that I was betrothed at birth, so she told me when I brought El…Eriol home. She had met Eriol before and was shocked when I told her that I had fallen in love with him. She then told me that he was my fiancé and I was supposed to marry him anyway. I was so angry when I had found out. What was even worse was the fact that he knew who I was the entire time while I had absolutely not clue at all!"

"I didn't know Tomoyo, you should've told me," Sakura said quietly.

"I didn't want to trouble you," said Tomoyo. "You were coping with Touya going off to war, so I didn't want to burden you even more."

"I could've handled it."

"I'm sorry," apologized Tomoyo. "So you could imagine my surprise when he showed up here, at your father's banquet."

"I am your fiancé," Eriol rolled his eyes. "I'm invited to every banquet and event that you're invited to."

"Unfortunately," muttered Tomoyo.

Eriol ignored her. "So, you're the famous Sakura Kinomoto that I've heard so much about?"

Sakura blinked. "You've heard of me?"

"Of course," he jerked his head towards Tomoyo's direction. "When you court her for a year you find out everything about you. You're all she ever talks about."

"She is not!" Tomoyo said indignantly.

"It's always, have I ever told you about my cousin Sakura? She is the sweetest and cutest thing on this planet! This outfit I made the other day will suit her very well, you know, pink her so her color!" mimicked Eriol.

Tomoyo turned bright red. "Don't listen to him Sakura, he's just trying to get back at me for leaving him."

"That's what you'd like to think."

"It's true, you're just hurt because I left you!"

"You can't leave me, we're engaged! And there's no way to break the contract!"

"Damn!"

"I take it that you're not very fond of me."

"Isn't it obvious?"

Sakura held her head as she felt an oncoming headache arising from the bickering couple.

_Aboard the Fune no Nadeshiko, 85 A.D._

Touya lay on the bed in his cabin aboard the ship, thinking. He was nervous, he decided finally, about going home after a year and a half in China. He could feel all the butterflies swarming in his stomach, not really helping his present illness, seasickness.

He wondered how his family was doing; they knew how he was doing. After all, he would send a report at the end of each week to his father. He never got a reply because it was too dangerous and he didn't like the thought of anyone opening his personal letter from his family. He had received a letter from Sakura once, but after that, he asked her not to write to him again, explaining the dangers if she did.

He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a crinkled sheet of paper, a faint whiff of cherry blossoms escaped and he felt all the present situations that had gone wrong disappear. He unfolded it and began to read for probably the hundredth time in the past month.

O_nii-chan, _

_ Genki desu ka? (How are you?) Watakushiwa anata ga nai noni ki ga tsuku gaman dekinai imasu. (I find the absence of you to be unbearable.) I know you don't like me getting all mushy around you, but I can't seem to help it. You're my only brother, my big brother. I hate to say this, but I even miss you calling me kaijuu. I can just picture your smirk all the way from over here in Japan, so I'll be here to stomp on your feet again when you come back home (don't worry, I'll be more gentle with you because it'll be your homecoming). _

_ I hope you win the war because then my big brother can come home and be my big brother again instead of the captain of the Japanese armies. Receiving letters once a week just isn't the same as having an annoying as heck older brother around. It seems rather surreal that you are off to war; it was like yesterday when we were still young and had nothing to worry about. We were just carefree kids having fun, now you're off at war and I don't know whether you're going to return or not. _

_ I'm going all, sentimental over this one letter, but I'm a girl. It wouldn't kill you to show a little emotion every now and then onii-chan. I'm here waiting for you to come back and I'll keep on waiting no matter how long because you're my only brother. I know you hate this part, and I love you. No matter how many times you call me "kaijuu" or other really annoying names, no matter how many times you scold me, I still love you. I'll be the first one waiting at the docks when you arrive home. I promise. _

_Love, your imouto (little sister), _

_Sakura_

Touya smiled affectionately at the letter. Ever since he received the letter, he had kept it by his side, in his pocket at all times. He wondered how she was doing, never once did she mention how she was faring back in Japan. But that was Sakura, always the one worrying about others when she was the one who needed to be taken care of. She was just so unselfish it was disgusting.

He folded the letter back up and tucked it back into his coat pocket.

"Letter from a lover?"

Touya sat up on his bed and saw Syaoran Li standing there before laying back down.

"I thought I ordered prisoners not to be wandering the ships after nine," Touya said listlessly.

"Yeah, well, let's just say, security around here isn't the best," smirked Syaoran. "It was easy escaping them."

"Oh?" asked Touya raising an eyebrow. "It doesn't really matter anyway, the only place those people can escape to is the to their death. And I doubt any of them want to drown to death. It is a rather unpleasant way to die."

Syaoran snorted. "That is ironic, death itself is unpleasant. You seem to know a lot about drowning."

"My sister almost drowned once," Touya said quietly. "We had gone fishing with my father and she leaned too far when we weren't watching and fell over. We were able to rescue her though, thank Kami-sama. She was only five once, but since then, she's been terrified of large bodies of water."

"You seem pretty close."

"We are," Touya said shortly.

"So that letter is from her then?" asked Syaoran.

"It is. Why are you down here anyway?"

"I wanted to ask you a question.

"Well then ask it."

"How much longer 'til we reach Japan?"

"I'm assuming a week at the most."

A silence fell and Syaoran returned to his room, while Touya fell asleep, dreaming of his once carefree past with his younger sister.

_Emperor's Palace, Tokyo, Japan, 85 A.D_

"Your Highness, the Emperor wishes to speak with you in the throne room," said a messenger, bowing.

"Thank you," said Sakura. "You're dismissed."

The messenger bowed and left the room.

Sakura turned back to the couple, who were now in the midst of cough making up. Sakura had just watched and heard them arguing a few seconds ago and now they were declaring their undying love for each other and apologizing? Sakura shook her head, clearing out the thoughts. She sure did have some strange friends who knew strange people. It didn't matter though, from the looks of it, Tomoyo and Eriol made the perfect couple. Both equally stubborn, loud, and well, strange.

Sakura sweatdropped as things got a little out of hand but she didn't bother trying to get them to give each other some air. She sighed and turned towards the door.

"Well, I better go," said Sakura in a loud voice.

The couple was too engrossed in each other to notice, so Sakura slipped out of her room and closed the door gently to give them some private time. She would remember to change the sheets on her bed later.

She walked to the throne room gaily, humming a song. She saw her father sitting on the chair looking rather grim and knew immediately something was wrong.

"What's the matter Daddy?" asked Sakura worriedly.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news Sakura."

"What?" asked Sakura, her green eyes growing wide.

"It's concerning…"

"I knew it!" wailed Sakura. "Touya's dead!!!" and with that, she began to cry her eyes out. "It's not fair! I never got to say goodbye!!!!!"

She continued wailing, not noticing that she was putting on a very nice show for all the servants.

Fujitaka sweatdropped at how his daughter had jumped to conclusions so quickly, he cleared his throat, making Sakura look up at him and wipe away her tears, sniffling. "Actually that's not it."

"Really?" asked Sakura happily.

Fujitaka sweatdropped yet again, his daughter had some serious mood swing issues, he was going to have to ask the royal doctor about it just to make sure someone or thing had invaded her body. "It's actually about you."

"Oh, okay, but why were you looking so sad Daddy? I know I'm not dying, or could I be?" gasped Sakura.

"No, you're not dying," said Fujitaka patiently.

"Well, what is it then?"

"As you know, you're sixteen and in a few months you will be seventeen," began Fujitaka quietly. "And in our culture that's about the age when a young woman should marry."

"Let me guess," interrupted Sakura. "I'm betrothed aren't I?"

Fujitaka nodded and waited to see how his daughter would handle it.

"To whom?"

"You know him quite well, I believe," said Fujitaka. "You may come in."

Sakura looked to his side and saw someone she would have never thought walk in, "Paul?"

"Konnichiwa (hello), Fujitaka-sama, Sakura-hime," said Paul, bowing.

"I'm engaged to Paul?" asked Sakura. "Since when?"

"We decided a few days ago," said Fujitaka. "A few days before the party."

"We?"

"Paul's father, Domitianus, and I."

"So, you decided even before the banquet. The one you said that I could choose a husband from?" asked Sakura incredulously.

"Actually we agreed that if you didn't find someone suitable after the banquet, then you and Paul would become officially betrothed."

"Did you know about this?" asked Sakura.

"I didn't know about it until this morning," admitted Paul. "I was rather surprised too."

"Well, I'll leave you two to go talk things out," said Fujitaka, tired all of a sudden. "You will leave in a week for Rome."

"But what about Touya?"

"Who's Touya?" asked Paul, curiously. He was also secretly jealous, was Touya Sakura's current suitor and lover?

"He's her older brother, and my only son," explained Fujitaka to Paul before replying to Sakura's question. "I don't know when he will return, but just hope that he will return to see you before you leave for Rome."

"I don't believe this!" exclaimed Sakura as soon as her father was out of sight.

"Me neither."

"I was just a free woman a few days ago, and you were a free man too! And now we're betrothed??"

"I think that we should talk this out Sakura," said Paul quietly.

They walked out to the garden and wandered around, savoring the peaceful aura of the garden before Paul broke the silence.

"I want to try and make this betrothal work," said Paul. "I really like you Sakura, you're different from any other girl I've ever met before and that's really saying something."

"I don't know Paul," said Sakura nervously. "I've never really thought of marriage and to tell you the truth it scares me, committing myself to someone like that. I really like you too but I don't know if I love you."

"I have a suggestion," said Paul. "Why don't we give this betrothal a try and if it doesn't work out between us, if we find that we're better off as good friends, then we'll break it and you can come back to Japan. Does that sound good?"

Sakura thought for a few seconds before nodding, "I like the sound of that."

"So you'll come back to Rome with me?" asked Paul eagerly.

Sakura nodded again.

"You'll love it there!" Paul shouted happily before lifting Sakura up and swinging her around.

Sakura laughed. "I'm sure I will."

Fujitaka smiled as he watched his daughter being swung around by his, hopefully, if all went well, future son-in-law.

"They seem to be getting along fine," said a deep voice.

"Don't they? Domitianus, are you sure that this will work out?" asked Fujitaka hesitantly.

"The least we could do is try," said Domitianus, Paul's father.

Fujitaka remained silent, but he agreed with the words that Domitianus had spoken.

A/N: Does anybody know Japanese? Because mine isn't very good and I don't think my grammar is right. Please email me or leave a review to tell me the correct spellings and word usage.

Titus Flavius Domitianus was a real emperor of Rome, he completed the Colosseum in 82 A.D., the dates I have aren't very accurate because he was born in 51 A.D. So that means that Paul was born when he was fifteen, just go along with me okay? My history isn't very accurate.

And I know that ya'll are thinking, Sakura is marrying Paul?? Don't worry, everything will work out in the end, this story is SS, I'm positive.

Thanks to all my reviewers!!!!


	6. Chapter 6

Hey! I won't be updating for a while now, exams are coming up and I really need to study. I don't have a single class where I don't need to study (well, maybe art). Just warning you guys, don't worry, I'm not quitting the story (that sounds really funny), I'll be continuing through summer break (hopefully at least once a week), which starts in June.

I'm also sorry if it seems like I've been ignoring your reviews. I haven't, it's just that I can't really think of a title.

And if I forgot to put it in the chapters before, Sakura is now the Japanese princess instead (I changed it) and Paul is the Roman prince (I don't really know if there were princes in Rome, but he is the heir to the throne of Rome, a.k.a. future emperor).

**The Amber Eyed Gladiator: Forbidden Games**

By: Sakuratenshi89

Chapter Six

_Aboard the Fune no Nadeshiko, 85 A.D._

'_I'm home_,' thought Touya. '_I never thought I would make it back here again. But here I am. Japan, it looks the same as the day I left it. Of course I've only been gone for eighteen months._'

Syaoran stood beside him, watching the island grow bigger and bigger as they neared it. So this was Japan, the famous land of the rising sun he had heard of ever since he was a boy. He wondered what his new life would be like.

"I think you'll like it," said Touya.

Syaoran was startled, Touya just seemed to know what he was thinking at all times.

Touya smirked. "Japan is normally a friendly country unless offended. Keep an open mind Li."

"Whatever," scowled Syaoran.

"But I suppose that since you're Chinese, it would be very hard for you to do so," Touya said lightly. "Chinese never did seem to like anybody but themselves much." His smirk grew bigger if possible, for he knew that what he said was actually the complete opposite of the truth, but it was aggravating and provoking Syaoran, so he said it.

"Kinomoto," growled Syaoran. "I swear, if I were still who I used to be, I would kill you, and I would make sure it was a painful, slow death; but now that I've been reduced to a captive, I won't."

"It's nice to know that you like me so much."

"Captain Kinomoto?"

Touya turned to the ship's captain. "Yes?"

"We will be docking in a few minutes."

"Very well."

The ships captain bowed and left to command the docking.

"Ah, home sweet home," sighed Yukito as he walked up to Touya and Syaoran. "I'd never had thought I'd see my homeland again."

"My thoughts exactly," said Touya, not taking his eyes off of Japan. He wondered if Sakura was there waiting.

"It's been so long," murmured Yukito. "Eighteen months of hardship and war certainly makes you miss home even more. I'd never thought I'd learn to appreciate Japan so much. Growing up, I always wanted to leave, find adventure, and go to other nations. Now to me, there is no place like home; there is no place in the world like Japan."

Touya nodded silently in agreement.

Syaoran remained silent, he agreed with Yukito, but it was not his place to say so, for he was not in his country but in this foreign land and he was a captive.

"We're docking," Touya said as he saw many sailors run out and began to drop the anchors. The other ships sailing with them were now docking beside the Fune no Nadeshiko. He turned back to look at the port and shifted his eyes to the lone figure standing on the docks.

_Emperor's Palace, Tokyo, Japan, 85 A.D_

"I can't believe you're leaving!!!" sobbed Tomoyo melodramatically.

"I really don't see what all the crying is about Tomo-chan," Sakura rolled her eyes. "After all, Eriol did promise you that we'll be seeing each other again soon. Remember? As your wedding gift, you'll be staying in Rome with me?"

"That's right isn't it?" sniffed Tomoyo, wiping away all her tears, and then smiling happily. "Yay! I get to stay with my beloved Sakura!"

Sakura sweatdropped, her cousin was even more of a nut case than she was.

"I thought I was your beloved," frowned Eriol.

"Don't frown, it gives you wrinkles," Tomoyo said absentmindedly. "Oh Sakura! I made you a whole new wardrobe. You just have to bring it with you to Rome, all the latest trends of Rome are in there."

Eriol had stopped frowning, but was still looking a bit upset at having been brushed off by his fiancé.

"Thanks Tomoyo," Sakura laughed sheepishly. "I really appreciate it. Arigato (thank you)."

"You shouldn't thank me, I really have fun making these outfits."

Sakura smiled then turned to Eriol and asked in a worried voice, "What's the matter Eriol-kun?"

"Nothing," he said quickly.

"Don't worry about him," said Tomoyo. "He's just upset that I'm paying more attention to my _best friend_ who is _leaving soon_ and that I'm spending more time with you."

"I get the point," Eriol said, annoyed. "But _we're going too_."

"Sakura will be too busy planning out the wedding," said Tomoyo sadly.

"You can help me Tomoyo," Sakura said nicely.

"YAY!!!" shrieked a starry eyed Tomoyo, making both Eriol and Sakura wince from the deafening voice. "You're the best Sakura!"

"Um…you're welcome?" smiled Sakura nervously.

"I'm not deaf!" proclaimed Eriol.

Tomoyo glared at him, shutting him up effectively.

"What I meant was that…um…I…I'm…not…uh…de-…dead! Yeah! That's it! I'm not dead!" stuttered Eriol.

Tomoyo stepped up to him menacingly, making him step back with every step she took. "Oh…you will be dead by the time I'm through with you mister!"

"Help!" squeaked Eriol.

Sakura just watched her wrathful best friend chase after her fiancé helplessly.

"Sakura?"

"Yes?"

"I see they're getting along just fine," commented Paul as he saw what Sakura was watching with amusement.

"Aren't they?"

"They're the strangest couple I have ever met."

"You can say that again," Sakura said, turning to Paul with some curiosity. "Why are you here? I thought you were packing."

"I'm done," said Paul, earning a surprised and incredulous look from Sakura. He laughed, "I didn't pack that much, you should know that guys pack very little compared to women."

"Yeah, I guess I forgot," laughed Sakura. "So, why are you here?"

"Your father sent me here to tell you that your brother's ship was spotted off in the distance, he should be reaching Japan in half an hour or so."

"Really??" asked an excited Sakura.

Paul nodded.

"Touya's home!" screamed Sakura happily.

Tomoyo and Eriol immediately stopped in the midst of their chase and heard Sakura's joyful shouting.

"I've got to go! Touya's home!" laughed Sakura as she ran out of her room.

"I've never seen her this happy before," smiled Tomoyo.

"They're pretty close, aren't they?" asked Paul, staring after Sakura absentmindedly.

"Isn't it obvious?" asked Eriol sarcastically, but he was happy for his fianc's best friend.

_On the Docks, Tokyo, Japan, 85 A.D._

Touya never took his eyes off of the lone figure on the docks; the figure didn't take its eyes off of his either. His eyes were still trained on it as he walked down the ramp.

Syaoran watched silently from the back for now that they had reached Japan, he would have to go back to being a captive, not that he wasn't one already. He wouldn't be able to speak to Touya in the public's eye. He would only be able to talk when Touya addressed him.

The figure ran towards Touya and launched herself (yes, it was a she) into his waiting arms.

"I missed you so much," sobbed Sakura (the figure was Sakura if no one has figured that out by now) into Touya's shoulder.

"I missed you too…kaijuu," whispered Touya.

Sakura glared at him then smiled, "I won't stomp on your foot, this time."

"Thanks," said Touya, smiling back.

Syaoran was surprised, was the usually cynical Captain Kinomoto actually smiling, genuinely smiling? His sister must really mean a lot to him then. Syaoran glanced at the figure in the captain's arms. She was slender and rather tall for a female, but he was still taller, he noted, by a lot.

Sakura was released from Touya's arms and that was when Syaoran got a good look at the Japanese princess.

He admitted grudgingly that she was very beautiful. With her long light brown hair and her emerald eyes, she was easily one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen.

"Where's is everyone else?" asked Touya.

"Waiting for you back at the castle, they've prepared a homecoming party for you," said Sakura smiling. She just couldn't stop with the smiling.

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

"You."

"Very funny Sakura."

"I thought it was too."

Touya rolled his eyes, this was definitely his sister; he bore her jokes this time because he had missed her and had missed all her terrible jokes and tantrums.

"Let's go!" exclaimed Sakura.

"I have some other business to take care off first," Touya said gently. "I'll meet you back at the palace."

"Um…okay," hesitated Sakura, then she smiled again upon spotting a certain gray haired general. "Hi Yukito! Welcome back!"

"Konnichiwa Sakura-hime," smiled Yukito. "How are you?"

"Great now that you guys are back home! Are you coming to the homecoming party?"

"Wouldn't miss it," laughed Yukito.

"See you there!" waved Sakura as she began walking back towards the horse she had ridden here, which Touya approved of: "Young women should not be riding horses like crazy people! They should be refined, but of course you aren't at all, you're just a little kaijuu, aren't you?"

"Save me a dance!" called Yukito.

"Will do!"

"What?" asked Yukito once Sakura was out of sight; Touya had been glaring at him.

"You do know that she's my sister right?"

"Of course I do."

"Good."

Yukito rolled his eyes, "You don't have to worry about her, I'm just like another brother to her, which I don't mind."

"Whatever. Let's get the captives to the auction house."

_The auction house_, those three words rang in Syaoran's mind over and over again as he began walking, following Touya and Yukito's lead.

_Auction House, Tokyo, Japan, 85 A.D._

"I'll take them," said the owner of the auction house after a lot of persuasion, "But the next auction will be next year."

"That's fine," said Touya. "We just need to put them somewhere for the time being."

'_I'm going to be in here for a month_,' thought Syaoran as he looked around the grimy cell room.

"You'll be out of here soon," said Touya quietly. "Someone like you would probably be auctioned off as soon as you get up there. Can't say much for the older and weaker captives though. Can't stay here for long, I have a banquet to attend."

"Then go."

"I'll try and persuade father to let me come to the auction and get some new recruits for the army since we lost a chunk of people in the war."

Syaoran smirked, "We were good weren't we?"

Touya shrugged. "You put up a good fight, but we won in the end, so it really doesn't matter."

"I'm not sure if I want to be sold that I want to be a member of my enemy's army."

"Suit yourself, I was being kind."

"Oh, very," said Syaoran wryly. "That's just about as nice as you can get."

"I'm leaving now."

"You said that a while ago."

"Mr. Tokohashi," Touya addressed the owner.

"Y-yes?" asked the flustered Mr. Tokohashi at being addressed by the prince.

"See to it that these men are fed well, we want them to be in top condition for the auction so that they are sold at high prices. You got that?"

"Y-yes sir," said Mr. Tokohashi.

"I'll be checking up on these men once a week," said Touya firmly. "I know your reputation for being a liar."

Mr. Tokohashi flinched at the bluntness of Touya's voice.

"So be expecting me at the end of each week," said Touya.

"Yes, your majesty."

"Good," said Touya, swinging up on his horse and leaving with Yukito in tow and a few other soldiers that had come along.

Mr. Tokohashi scowled as they left, "That Prince thinks so highly of himself, sometimes I wish that I could just strangle him myself or that he had died in battle."

Syaoran stared at the man with a blank face. This fellow sure did hate Kinomoto a lot.

"And his sister rejected me as a suitor," the stout man muttered.

'_I wonder why_,' Syaoran thought. '_The girl was smart though_.'

"I'm perfectly handsome."

Syaoran was about to crack. This man was just crazy, he probably didn't even know that some of the captives here could speak Japanese fluently and could understand every single word he said.

"This man is crazy," said one of the captives in Chinese. "He is talking to himself."

"All the Japanese are crazy," sneered another captive. "I hate them all."

A low murmur of agreement rose from several of the captives.

Syaoran remained silent as he continued to listen to the ugly man ramble on.

"Just wait, one day I'll rise to power and overthrow the government and make that princess my queen. She won't be able to refuse me then, will she?"

'_Those are some highly unlikely to happen dreams_.'

"What are you staring at!" yelled the man as the glared at the captives who had been watching him.

The captives were startled, except for Syaoran. Most didn't understand Japanese, so he translated for them, "He is saying that he is a very stupid man and he wish he were more handsome."

The captives laughed loudly, even the ones who did understand Japanese.

Syaoran just stood there smirking. This man could be described with one word, pushover.

"Why are you laughing!" screamed Mr. Tokohashi. "This isn't funny!"

"Now he says that he knows that he is just an ugly toad and a perverted one at that," 'translated' Syaoran, making the prisoners laugh even harder.

Mr. Tokohashi stomped his chubby feet in frustration, only succeeding in maker the prisoners roll on the floor with laugher and shook his fist at the prisoners before leaving the room angrily.

_Emperor's Palace, Tokyo, Japan, 85 A.D_

"Welcome home son," said Fujitaka warmly as he smiled down proudly upon his son.

"Thank you, otou-san," said Touya. "It's good to be home." He glanced around the room and began glaring at people.

Fujitaka sighed as soon as he saw his son glare. '_And here we go again. I should've known that Touya would do this as soon as he came back. It's like pure instinct for him. Scaring away all the suitors, not that there should be any anymore._'

"Who's that?" demanded Touya as he saw some guy (a dead guy, obviously) walk up to Sakura and take her hand.

"That's Paulus, or Paul, Julianus the second of Italy," responded Fujitaka. '_He's going to find out sooner or later, this son of mine is very smart and keen when it comes to things concerning Sakura_.'

"I don't like him," Touya watched Paul through narrowed eyes.

"Why?" asked Fujitaka warily.

"He's touching my sister."

"He has every right to."

"What do you mean father?" asked Touya in a suspicious voice. "Why does he have every right to touch Sakura? _My_ sister?"

"She might be _your_ sister, but she's also _my_ daughter."

"You didn't answer my question," said Touya, frustrated. "Why…"

"He's her fiancé."

"Oh, I see, so just because he's her…WHAT THE HELL?"

Every head in the banquet hall swerved towards the king and his son, staring at them in horror and disbelief.

Fujitaka sweat dropped at his son's crude language before saying sternly, "What have I said about using swear words?"

"I know," said Touya grudgingly, "But this occasion just called for it. I mean Sakura is well…uh…"

"Engaged," said Fujitaka amusedly. "I know, his father and I arranged it."

"Oh you arranged it, that makes it so much better," Touya said sarcastically.

"They seem to be getting along pretty well."

"Too well."

"They've actually become really good friends. They're going to give this engagement a shot and if it doesn't work out, then it's over."

"Sakura agreed to this?"

"She likes Paul."

"If she's okay with it, then I guess I'm okay with it," muttered Touya; though deep down inside he was just waiting to get his hands on that fiancé of Sakura's and strangle him in his sleep.

"You won't be strangling him in his sleep either," said Fujitaka in a 'I-know-you-too-well' kind of tone.

Touya groaned. "Well…what if I just spread a rumor and scare…"

"No," said Fujitaka firmly. "You will not be messing around with your sister's engagement and that's final."

"Fine," said Touya stiffly, he walked away from Fujitaka to where Paul and Sakura were dancing. "May I cut in?"

"Sure," said Sakura too cheerfully as she let go of Paul's hands and began walking away when Touya's hand clasped around her wrist.

"Not you, him," said Touya in a serious voice.

"No problem," said Paul, smiling. "I'll let you two catch up." He walked to a table and began talking with some of the other noble families.

"You agreed to this engagement?" asked Touya.

"Yes," said Sakura timidly.

"Why?" asked Touya.

"Because I wanted to."

"Were you forced?"

"No, I like Paul, I like him a lot, he's different from other men, if you gave him the chance you would see that too."

"I don't want to give him a chance," said Touya stubbornly.

"Your problem, not mine," shrugged Sakura. "I'm leaving for Rome in two days, tomorrow Paul will be going to the auction house to choose some of the slaves there to be taken back to Rome as sort of a gift. Then the next day I will be leaving."

"You grew up so fast," commented Touya softly. "Right in front of my eyes."

"Shouldn't otou-san be saying that?" teased Sakura. "Not my brother?"

"I can't help it."

"I love you too Touya. You're the best brother I could've ever asked for even though you really are annoying sometimes and way too overprotective."

"I'm only looking out for you," protested Touya.

"I know," laughed Sakura, enjoying the moment she was having with her brother.

A/N: Just a reminder! I really appreciate reviews!! hint hint Oh yea, one more thing, during summer break I might be rewriting some of these chapters, just for my own sake and for all you guys out there who read my story! Thanks a bunch to:

AnimeObsessionFAntasy

dreamschemer

AnonymousT

SibylSofiana

Ice Jayden

Time Warp

Rumpleteasza

Kawaii Bunnii

Avelyn Lauren

The Crystally Water

earthy876

Heather-Hezzer-and-Honaluki

Cherry Jade

Rebellious-Cherry

Riley S

enigma-spirit

A Thousand Paper Crans

Qleo-chan

mycherrywolf


	7. Chapter 7

I'm back!!!! This chapter isn't really long.  I hope you guys enjoy it all the same though. This is my first official chapter with a changed title!!! Yay! I'll also probably be updating faster, hopefully, as fast as I can think of what to write.

Also, just a warning to all ya'll out there who read my story, I tend to get writer's block a lot, so…yeah, just a warning.

**The Amber Eyed Gladiator: Forbidden Games**

By: Sakuratenshi89

Chapter Seven

_Auction House, Tokyo, Japan, 85 A.D._

            "Get up!" yelled Mr. Tokohashi. "Get your lazy asses up!"

            Syaoran groaned, what could this ugly man possibly want now? He opened an eye lazily to see Mr. Tokohashi opening the jail cells. What in the hell was happening?

            "You will all stand in the main room in a straight line," he ordered. "The other captives are already there." Then he remembered some didn't speak Japanese, so he grabbed them and pulled them into the front room of the auction house and pointed for them to stand next to the other prisoners.

            Syaoran stood up slowly, tired and aching from the not so good night's rest on the hard cot in the cell. He walked into the front room; curious about what was going on when he was pushed in line.

            "All bow for the Prince Paulus Julianus the second!"  announced Mr. Tokohashi when every slave had entered the room.

            The prisoners were forced onto their knees, Syaoran among them.

            "You may rise," said a deep voice.

            Syaoran stood again with the others and watched through cautious eyes as a man who could rival him in height and stature walk down the line, giving every prisoner a once over.

            "This one," said the man, pointing to the captive in front of him.

            "Yes, your majesty," said a guard who stood behind the man. The guard grabbed the man and hauled him out the door toward the wagon, which was waiting in the street.

            Syaoran eyes narrowed, '_This must be the Prince Paulus. Typical looking prince, blond hair and blue eyes; doesn't seem very bright though_.' By now the prince was almost towards him.

            Blue eyes met amber.

            Paul's gaze bore right through Syaoran as if he could see right through him. Syaoran gazed right back at the prince, unafraid.

            "I like this one," announced Paul after several minutes of staring. "I think that Gaius might want him. He seems fit and well enough for the job."

            Syaoran was confused, well enough for what job?

            "Do you speak Latin?" asked Paul in Japanese.

            "Ita vero (yes)," said Syaoran. "I also speak Chinese, which is my native language."

            "He'll do," said Paul. "He's also very smart."

            The guard took hold of Syaoran and led him out the door.

            "You too huh?" asked a Japanese captive as Syaoran was basically thrown into the cart.

            "Where are we going?" asked Syaoran.

            "From what I heard, Rome."

            "Why?"

            "We're supposed 'gifts' to Rome from the Emperor or something like that," said the captive, shrugging.

            "Why is he giving gifts?"

            "Didn't you hear? The princess is betrothed to the prince."

            "Oh." Syaoran fell silent.

            A dozen more prisoners were thrown into the cart with Syaoran and the men who were already there and soon they were off to the palace to get ready to be sent off to Rome.

_On the Docks, Tokyo, Japan, 85 A.D._

            "I can't believe my little sister, my imouto is leaving," Touya said quietly. "I come home and she leaves home."

            "Don't be sad onii-chan," said Sakura, giving him a small smile. "We'll meet up again soon, I promise. Besides, you can come and visit me any time you want to."

            "Who said I'm sad?" scoffed Touya, teasingly.

            Sakura glared at him.

            "Plus, do you think I can really go half way around the world whenever I feel like it? Sakura, do you know how far away Rome is from Japan? You did pay attention in History class didn't you?"

            "Of course I did," scowled Sakura. "I was just saying it to make you feel better, but since you obviously feel better, I'll just be leaving."

            Touya smiled and pulled his little sister into a hug.

            Sakura hugged him tightly, "I'll miss you."

            "Take care of yourself," said Touya gruffly, letting Sakura go.

            "Was that too much mushiness for you onii-chan?" teased Sakura. "Too much for your tough image huh?"

            "Be quiet," Touya said, but he smiled.

            "Bye daddy," said Sakura as she hugged Fujitaka with all her might. "I'll miss you." She let him go and walked backwards to the ship waiting. She tried to smile but it was so hard through all of the tears, which were blurring her eyesight.

            "Be careful and take care of yourself!" called Fujitaka as Sakura got onto the boat and the ramp was pulled away.

            "I love you!" shouted Sakura. "I'll be back someday!"

            "She's gone," said Touya in disbelief. "I don't believe it."

            Fujitaka sighed with a heavy heart, "Neither do I son, neither do I."

_Aboard the Fune no Sakura, 85 A.D._

            "You can come back and visit," said Paul comfortingly to Sakura who was crying. He held her in his arms and rubbed her back soothingly.

            "I know, but Rome is so far away from Japan," said Sakura, sniffling. She wiped away her tears with a handkerchief Paul handed her.

            "That's true," said Paul. "But they'll be here for the wedding, won't they? Well, I mean, if there is even going to be a wedding. They'll be here though."

            "Yeah, I guess," said Sakura, giving Paul a small smile.

            "That's better," said Paul. "You're prettier when you smile."

            "So you're saying that I'm not pretty when I cry?" asked a horrified Sakura, who was just teasing.

            "No! That's not what I meant at all!" panicked Paul.

            Sakura laughed, "I'm just teasing."

            Paul sighed in relief, "You're such a tease, Sakura. Don't make me panic like that."

            Sakura couldn't stop laughing, "The look on your face was so funny Paul, you should've seen it, it was classic."

            "I'd rather not," said Paul wryly as he watched Sakura who was on the bed, since she wasn't able to stand up anymore from laughing so hard.

            She regained her composure after a few minutes, it seemed like an eternity to Paul.

            "This is a beautiful ship," commented Paul, running his hands along the intricate carvings on the bed's headboard.

            "I know, I couldn't believe it when Daddy gave us this ship, the _Fune no Sakura_, it's his favorite, since it was Mom's."

            "It's named after you."

            "Actually it was named before me. My mother loved cherry blossoms and when father gave her this ship as a present, she named it Sakura."

"Your father is a great man."

            "I know. What else did he give us?"

            "Um…let's see," said Paul, thinking out loud. "There's some fine china, gold, some slaves, prisoners of war I believe, silk, and plenty of other things."

            "Daddy is too generous," laughed Sakura.

            "He wants to make sure his baby girl is well off," smiled Paul. "Not that she wouldn't be anyway."

            "I guess I did grow up rather spoiled."

            "But you turned out just fine."

            "Thanks," giggled Sakura. "You did too."

            "I'll take that as a compliment."

            "It is one."

            Paul rolled his eyes playfully, "Come on, let's go check out the rest of this room."

            They were sitting in the master suite of the ship. It contained a bedroom, of course, with a large, king size bed, filled with swan feathers, with silk sheets. Then there was the baths in a connecting room and a walk in wardrobe. There was also a dining room and a sitting room.

            "I love this ship," said Sakura, sighing happily. "It holds many happy memories from my childhood."

            "Well then, I'm glad your Father gave us this ship."

            Sakura smiled. "Me too."

            The ship glided smoothly along the ocean waters, sailing from the land of the rising sun, for Rome, the most powerful empire in the world. As the ship sailed, Japan grew smaller until it was just a tiny dot on the horizon. Their journey had just begun.

_In in the Dungeons, Aboard the Fune no Sakura, 85 A.D._

            '_At least the conditions of this ship are better than the other one,_' thought Syaoran as he stared around the cell distastefully. '_But it's still not the best. I wonder if they even clean down here…probably not…well, maybe once every few years. Better get used to it Syaoran, you're going to be in here for at least a year._'

            He glanced around at the other prisoners and grimaced when one of the prisoners turned green and ran to a bucket placed in the back of the cell just for those **special** purposes.

            "Pleasant isn't it?" muttered the prisoner to whom Syaoran had spoken to before.

            Syaoran remained silent.

            "I'm Kanto Hirashi," said the prisoner. "And you are…"

            "Syaoran Li," said Syaoran quietly. "But everyone calls me Li."

            "Well, Li, why are you a prisoner?" asked Kanto, who was awfully cheerful and talkative for someone who was being taken away from his homeland.

            "I'm a prisoner of war from China."

            "Oh I see, I was born poor and so I was given away to be sold into slavery," said Kanto. "Life was hard on my family, my parents ran into debt and so they weren't able to raise my sister and I so we had to be given away, luckily someone adopted my six year old sister, and I don't know where she is now, but I think she's happy. No one wanted me because I was always the troublemaker and I wasn't terribly smart or anything. So I was taken away to the orphanage when I was ten and then a year ago I came to the auction house."

            "Are you always this talkative?" asked an irritated Syaoran.

            Kanto smiled, "Yeah, afraid so. And you're going to be stuck with me for the next year or so."

            Syaoran groaned.

            "Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

            "I'm sure I will," Syaoran glared at him, but to his surprise, it sort of bounced right off of Kanto because he just kept on smiling.

            "I'm immune to glares," explained Kanto. "I get them all the time, and so I learned to ignore them."

            "Whatever," sulked Syaoran, who was rather disappointed his death glare didn't work on him. '_Why not make the best of it then?_'

            "So who 'owns' us now?"

            "Oh, the Roman Prince, the future Emperor of Rome," answered Kanto. "His name I believe is Paulus Julianus the second. He's a good person from what I heard, and he's going to be a good emperor."

            "Why are we under him though?'

            "We're the 'wedding gift' from the Emperor Fujitaka to Paulus and his daughter, Sakura. I suppose you've heard of _her_. I mean, who hasn't? That girl is more famous than the legendary Helen of Troy (A/N: let's just say Helen of Troy was before this time). She is really beautiful. I've only seen her once and that was three years ago, but I can still remember it like yesterday."

            Syaoran wasn't very surprised. After all, he had seen Sakura once, and she had left a rather big impression on him. It actually made him long for his own sisters. Syaoran scowled, he shouldn't be thinking of his own sisters, they were a nuisance, he should be glad to have gotten away from them, "I suppose that Captain Kinomoto is her older brother?"

            "Yeah, a mean one he is. He's very overprotective of Sakura, I would be too, but he could loosen up a little. Walk within twenty feet of his sister and you're in prison. Of course, his father, the Emperor, finds this absolutely ridiculous and sets every single one of the prisoners free. Many men still do it though, you know, walk up to the Princess and hand her a gift, a flower or a token of some sort, just to get to touch her or stare at her. Then her brother finds out, but many say that it's worth it. I for one have never actually tried it myself, but I wish I had. Not that I stand a chance against a prince or someone of aristocratic origin."

            He was actually getting a lot of information out of his guy. '_He's very talkative, but he's also very informative_.'

            "So, you've never seen the Princess Sakura before?" asked Kanto after stopping his long rant.

            "No, I've seen her brother though," said Syaoran, '_And I've met him and actually befriended him_,' though he didn't add the latter.

            "You've never seen beautiful until you've seen her," Kanto said dreamily, then he cleared his throat, "But of course, we're all our of her league, she would never marry a commoner."

            "Mm hmm," said Syaoran absentmindedly.

            "So I'm dying to know your past."

            "There's nothing important about my life, just another soldier captured by the Japanese army and well, here I am," Syaoran lied straight through his teeth. He seemed pretty convincing though.

            "You're lying," said Kanto after several minutes of silence. His dark brown eyes stared into Syaoran's own amber ones.

            Syaoran began to sweat, '_Oh boy, this guy is more intelligent than I thought_.'

            "But I won't push you," said Kanto smiling. "You'll tell me when you're ready."

            '_Which will be never_,' thought Syaoran. "So, what do you think will happen to us when we arrive at Rome?"

            Kanto shrugged, "A number of things could happen. For instance, we could be sold into slavery; we could become palace servants, messengers, tutors, and others. An educated prisoner like you, since you know so many different languages would be more valuable than someone like me. I honestly don't know, and that's the truth. Maybe we'll even end up together at the same job."

            '_Highly unlikely_,' Syaoran gave Kanto a tiny (and when I say tiny, really tiny) smile, "Yeah, maybe." 

            And so the always-cheerful Kanto went on talking, while Syaoran half listened and half dozed off. In the end, Syaoran decided that this fellow wasn't that bad after all, and for once, he felt that he had a friend in this guy, which made him smile (not grin, a small smile).

A/N: Yay! Syaoran has a friend, well another one!!! I guess I made Kanto kind of like Yamazaki. Yamazaki will actually come later on though, you'll see, cause he's part of the Japanese army, not the Chinese one, so I couldn't have really made him a captive. Well actually I could've, he could have been captured by the Chinese army, anyhow, he'll be coming later in the story, if I decide to put him in. I might not. Just wanted to let you guys know.


	8. Chapter 8

There are some parts in the story that might seem really, well, exaggerated (the auctioning part). Just humor me, okay? I'd like to think that Syaoran is worth a lot. You might be wondering what in the world I'm talking about, but when you get there, you'll see.

I know I haven't updated in a while, I understand, but I kind of get writer's block a lot. And about my other stories, well I hadn't received many reviews for those, so I decided not to rewrite them, until I have time. Maybe after I complete this story.

**The Amber Eyed Gladiator: Forbidden Games**

By: Sakuratenshi89

Chapter Eight

_Ostia, Italy, 87 A.D._

Eighteen months had passed (A/N: I really don't know how long it takes on ship to get from Japan to Italy, just pretend it was eighteen months, okay? They had good luck ;) since the _Fune no Sakura_ had sailed away from Japan. Now they reached Ostia.

"Wow," said Sakura, as she glanced around the beautiful port city in awe. "This is amazing."

Paul grinned, "Glad you liked it. You haven't seen the best of it yet though, this is just the port city, Ostia, we haven't actually reached Rome yet. We will be taking a road that will lead us to Rome."

"Is it true that 'all roads lead to Rome'?" asked Sakura eagerly.

"Well, it's mostly true."

"This is so wonderful! I'm in Rome!" shouted Sakura happily. "Romam amo (I love Rome)."

Paul laughed. "So do I, Sakura, so do I. It's good to be back home again."

"Those eighteen months on the ship were worth it," Sakura sighed dreamily. "I can't wait to see the rest of the city. Come on Paul! Let's go, I can't wait! Hurry up! You're so slow!"

Sakura was behind Paul and trying to push him towards the streets.

Paul just kept on laughing, "Slow down there tiger."

She glared at him, only succeeding in making him laugh even harder.

"What?" she demanded. "I don't find my wanting to go check out the city so amusing."

"The city isn't going anywhere," laughed Paul. "You're going to be here for a while, so just relax Sakura. We can go anytime, just not today, we have to get to Rome first."

"How long will it be?" whined Sakura.

"Several days," answered Paul.

Sakura sighed in resignation, "All right, I suppose I can wait."

"That's my girl, I promise though that once we reach Rome, we will go look at all the sights, I'll even take you to go see a game in the Colosseum. I might just change your opinion of it. It's really not as bad as it sounds. I'll tell you when something's about to happen and you can close your eyes and I'll tell you when it's over so that you can open them again."

"I don't know Paul," said Sakura slowly, "You know that I really find those games appalling. If I go watch it, can you ask them to make it just fight until one sheds some blood, not until one dies. The winner is the one who hasn't lost any blood."

"I suppose I could," thought Paul out loud. "I'd have to ask my father, since he's in charge."

"Thanks, but I'll go see it just for you," said Sakura giving him a small smile. "Since you want me to go so bad."

"I promise that it won't be so bad princess." Paul offered his hand to Sakura.

"Okay," said Sakura skeptically, as she took Paul's offered hand and stepped up into the carriage.

_Auction Market, Rome, Italy, 87 A.D._

Syaoran stood in line, waiting for his turn up on the stand to be sold. He watched a guy in front of him was sold to a rich, rather snobby looking man. Syaoran grimaced; he could only hope that he wouldn't have to work for that man.

"Sold, for $1000!" called out the owner of the auction market. (A/N: I really don't know what their money was called back then, so just bear with me and pretend they had dollars, okay?)

Syaoran looked on as the guy right before him was sold to a voluptuous woman in her mid forties perhaps with loads of make up on her face for $950. He didn't have to guess to know what her job was. He was appalled, now he would rather have the stuck up old man than the prostitute.

"Go!" hissed Kanto, who was directly behind him. "It's your turn."

Startled, Syaoran stumbled up the steps of the stand and stood there.

Men and women of all ages began to gawk; they had never seen such a magnificent slave in their life! Who was this man? Surely he was no ordinary slave. For no slave was ever built so finely with such handsome features. The women were all flushing and getting warm at the sight of this man.

"We have here a slave that came all the way from China! He is very young too, I believe around twenty," introduced the auction master (A/N: I didn't know what he would be called). "He is educated in many languages and ladies, as you can see, he is very strong and capable of work. He will make a good tutor and slave. So let the auctioning begin at $3000!"

"$3500!" yelled the prostitute who had just bought the man before Syaoran; she now threw him aside, having her eye on this new delicious piece of meat (A/N: hehe).

"$4000!" cried out a man!"

"$4020!"

"$4500!"

"$4700!"

"$4850!"

"$5000!"

The auction master smiled greedily as the price rose higher and higher until…

"$9000." Came a voice calmly.

The crowd gasped, who was willing to pay this much for a slave? Not that the prices weren't already ridiculously high. They all turned to the source of the voice and found an old man (well, about in his early fifties anyway) standing with two guards on each side of him.

"Come again?" stuttered the speechless auction master. Never in his whole life had he sold a single slave for that high of a price. Hell, he couldn't sell two slaves for that price normally.

"I said $9000," the old man spoke again. He glanced around the crowd as if daring anyone to raise the price even further.

Syaoran held his breath, '_Looks like this is the end_.'

"Are you sure?" asked the auction master hesitantly. "Gaius, are you really willing to pay that much for one slave."

"I have the money," said 'Gaius' calmly. "And I am willing to pay it for this young man here."

The auction master shrugged and relented, "All right, but there are no refunds."

"I know."

"$9000! Any takers? Going once!"

There was a murmur amongst the crowd as they looked about themselves to see if anyone was willing to pay more than $9000 for a slave.

Much to Syaoran's relief and disgust, the prostitute was looking rather disappointed and put out, so he knew that she wouldn't be making any offers on him anymore.

"Going twice!"

Syaoran began to sweat, this was it, he was going to be sold. He didn't even know who this Gaius person was.

"Sold!" shouted the auction master.

The man who had bought Syaoran, Gaius, walked up to the auction master and placed the money into his greedy, waiting hands.

"Come," was all he said to Syaoran.

Syaoran walked down the steps of the stand and followed the old man down the narrow aisle the crowd had formed in order to let them through. As he walked down the aisle, the crowd whispered and murmured, pointing at him as if he were an alien.

'_You are an alien_,' thought Syaoran to himself. '_You're a foreigner in this country. They're just staring at you because you're a slave who just got sold for a huge amount of money, $9000. And they've never seen or heard of a slave ever being sold for that much. That's it. That's all they're whispering to themselves about._'

The old man had gotten into a carriage and was waiting for Syaoran to get in with him.

Syaoran got in, hesitating at first until the old man had said, "What are you waiting for? Get in!"

"I'll bet you're wondering who I am and why I bought you for so much, eh?" chuckled Gaius.

Syaoran nodded slowly.

"I know who you are Syaoran Li."

Syaoran pretended not to be surprised, but it still must have shown on his face.

"Surprised, eh?" laughed Gaius. "Don't be. I'll explain everything to you later. But first, I've been very rude. Let me introduce myself to you. I am Gaius Augustus. I am your owner from this point forth. Anything that happens to you and anything you do, etc., is my business."

Syaoran nodded in understanding.

"I am the master of the Gladiatorial School here in Rome. It is my job and duty to find new recruits and train them to become the best gladiators out there. We are very well known for our gladiators here in the school, we have the best trainers and the best equipment and whatnot. We are renown for our gladiators that we send to the games. Interested yet? Well, you don't have a choice anyway, seeing as I just bought you not too long ago," the old man chuckled to himself.

'_Me, become a gladiator? That seems pretty interesting_,' thought Syaoran.

"I picked you, Li Syaoran, because you not only have the potential but also the power to become the most powerful man in the world."

Syaoran's eyes widened at this, "W-what did you just say?"

"You have the potential and the power to become the most powerful man and sorcerer in this world. That is, if you put your mind to it," said Gaius. "Of course you'll need training and discipline, which is what I'm here for…I know what you're thinking. You're thinking about how you've already had all the discipline and training you'll ever need from the Elders when you were young and in your early teens, but that's not true. There's more training than those old men can give."

'_You're old too_,' thought Syaoran, who for once had never thought he would be defending the Elders. '_Plus, they were good trainers and discipliners, even if they tried to kill me with all their instruction and chastising. They were good deep down anyway otherwise they wouldn't have become an Elder_.'

"I know that I'm old too," smirked Gaius, watching Syaoran's facial expression, "But I can teach you more than they ever could with a sword and with your powers."

Syaoran raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"You don't really have a choice anyway, you're working for me now, so it doesn't matter if you believe me or not. But I usually like it better and find it easier to teach when my pupils and slaves believe in me."

"It's not that I don't want to believe you," Syaoran said slowly, "It's just I don't know what to believe anymore. There's also the fact that I'm a foreigner and don't quite know the ways of your people. I'm more susceptible to false beliefs than other Romans are. It's also just very hard to believe. I hope you understand me."

Gaius nodded, then he asked quietly, "So, are you willing to give this a shot?"

"I am," Syaoran nodded.

"Good," said Gaius smiling, "I'm glad you agreed, and I'm sure that you will be too."

"Why?"

"Didn't you know?"

"Know what?"

"If any member of the royal family likes you very much, you will practically be considered royalty yourself and you will have all the privileges of the royal family, except of course, voting. You will have a huge change of becoming free if you win favor with the royal family. Well, you have to be good of course to even get them to notice you. But once they do notice you, virtually everything about you becomes their business. So there are ups and downs to this," Gaius said seriously. "So, what do you say?"

"Bring it on."

_The Palace, Rome, Italy, 87 A.D._

"This place is so beautiful!" exclaimed Sakura as she got out of the carriage, ignoring Paul's offer to help her out. She ran up the steps leading to the palace. "It's so much more beautiful than I could ever imagine!"

"I really hope you enjoy your stay here," said Paul nervously. "The servants have prepared the room across from mine to be yours. We didn't quite know what you liked, so they tried to decorate it as feminine as possible."

"Don't worry, I'd like any room you have!"

"Well, let's go, I'll show you around the palace," said Paul, offering his arm to Sakura, which she took gladly.

They walked through the palace, with Paul and Sakura lingering behind in every room because Sakura wanted to engrave everything into her memory. She oohed and ahhed at the tall ceilings and the columns and the marble tiled floors. She gasped at the magnificent wall paintings and designs.

"I hope my room is as magnificent as the rest of them," said Sakura eagerly. "It has to be, the rest of the palace has just been absolutely wonderful!"

"Well, don't get too excited yet, but there is a ball coming up in a week, in your honor," said Paul as they walked up a stairway.

"Kami-sama!" breathed Sakura. "Are you serious?"

Paul nodded, "I'm afraid I am!"

"This is so great!" Sakura jumped up and down excitedly and hugged Paul tightly.

"Uh…Sakura?"

"Yes?" asked Sakura who was still hugging Paul.

"We kind of need to get to your room, and I can't breathe."

"Oh, sorry," said Sakura sheepishly.

"No problem."

They soon stopped in front of a intricately carved wooden door.

"Here we are."

Sakura opened the heavy door (with lots of help from Paul) and gasped at what she saw. "This is so beautiful!"

The room was made of marble of course, like the rest of the palace, with a beautiful large bed on one side, with a personal bath behind some curtains on the other end. There were two couches (A/N: the ones that Roman's had, that you could lie on) in the middle of the tables, for company and other uses. She also had her own personal balcony from which she could look over practically all of Rome.

"I absolutely love it!" exclaimed Sakura.

"You'll love it even more, because when your friend Tomoyo arrives, she'll be staying in the adjoining room," said Paul, pointing to the door Sakura had missed.

"Thank you!" Sakura hugged Paul.

"Come now, there is this place I want to take you," said Paul, tugging on Sakura's hand gently.

Sakura laughed. "All right, hold on, I just want to admire my room for a little longer."

"You can admire all you want later," whined Paul, making Sakura laugh even more. "You are staying here for a while you know. You'll have plenty of time to admire then."

"True," said Sakura, letting Paul pull her out of her room.

_The Gladiatorial Institute of Rome, Rome, Italy, 87 A.D._

Three days later, Sakura stood next to her fiancé stiffly. It was rather obvious to everyone that she was not very excited about being where she was. Well, actually it was only Paul who could actually tell that she wasn't very excited.

For the past three days, the couple had been sightseeing all of Rome. Visiting its magnificent buildings and just roaming the streets. Sakura had stopped at just about every store and stand they had come across, while Paul patiently waited for her. He knew that Rome was beautiful and glorious and Sakura wanted to see just about everything there was in the city.

"Honey, what's the matter?" asked Paul, even though he knew perfectly well what was wrong with Sakura.

Sakura sighed, "You know what's wrong."

Now it was Paul's turn to sigh, "I know that you might not be really fond of these games that we take pride in, but please, just watch it this once."

"I'm only here because it's my duty to show up with you in public," said Sakura.

"I promise that if you do find these games utterly appalling, then we will not come to them anymore."

"I can't do that Paul," said Sakura. "You love watching these games. I can't take it away from you. I can't stop you from watching these games just because I don't like them. That would be unfair to you."

"No, it's fine, really," said Paul, shaking his head. "I'm not that fond of them."

"Yes you are. I'll come to these games with you, but I probably won't enjoy them. I'll be here for your sake."

"Are you sure?" asked Paul quietly.

"Yes."

"Thank you," said Paul, rewarding Sakura with a brilliant smile that took Sakura's breath away. "Besides, what could be so bad? We're only watching the men train. We're not actually seeing them battle today. I thought it would be nice to let you see what they do to prepare and how they take their, well…job, if you want to call it that."

"Your highness!" exclaimed a loud voice from the door.

Sakura and Paul turned.

"Gaius! How good to see you!" said Paul, smiling jovially.

"How may I be of service to you?" inquired the rather friendly looking old man.

"My fiancé and I would like to just have a tour of the institute. This is one of my favorite places in the whole world and I just wanted to share it with her. It's my favorite sport."

"You fiancé?!" Gaius said, shocked. He looked beside Paul and saw Sakura. "I'm so sorry, Your Highness, it was terribly rude of me to ignore you like that. I'm Gaius, the owner and principal teacher, if you will, of the Gladiatorial Institute of Rome."

"Pleased to meet you," said Sakura, bowing her head. "I am Sakura Kinomoto, from Japan."

"I must say, your Latin is perfect," smiled Gaius.

"Thank you," Sakura beamed.

"You picked a good one," Gaius told Paul, making him (Paul) smile and nod in agreement. "Well, what are you waiting for? Come in! Come in! And let the tour begin!"

They walked down a large hallway lit by candles, there was a little light coming in from the sun roofs. Sakura shivered a bit from the coolness of the Institute. They soon stopped in front of two large double metal doors.

"This is the practice room where all the practicing takes place," explained Gaius as he pushed open the heavy doors with ease. "This is the largest room and the most active and well known room in the whole Institute. Please, come in."

"How is the training with the new recruits coming along?" asked Paul as he looked around the room at the fighting men.

Gaius began speaking eagerly, "It's been great. I found some fit slaves in the auctioning the other day and they're good to say in the least. We'll be having the best games we've ever had in a while is all I can say without ruining anything for you. The fights are going to be great."

"Wow, so can you fill me in on some things?" asked Paul, inquisitively. He really enjoyed talking about the gladiatorial games.

While Paul and Gaius were engaged in a deep conversation that she knew wasn't going to end anytime soon, Sakura walked around curiously, stopping here and there to watch. There were practice swordfights, to wrestling, boxing, virtually everything connected to the word "fight" was going on in the Institute.

Sakura in all her curiosity did not notice a step in the path and all of a sudden she tripped, letting out a scream, stopping all the action and conversation going on in the room.

"Sakura!" Paul shouted desperately, trying to reach her before the hit the hard, stone ground.

Sakura shut her eyes tightly, waiting for the impact she would make when she hit the floor. All of a sudden, she saw flashes of herself lying in a pool of her own blood and began to feel sick. She waited for her death, but it never came. Instead she felt a pair of warm, muscular, strong arms wrap around her waist, catching her, saving her from a terrible fall. She opened her eyes, and saw that she was just mere inches from touching the ground and sighed with relief.

"Paul?" asked Sakura, glancing up at her rescuer, expecting to meet warm blue eyes. Instead, she met fiery, passionate amber.

And that was the first time emerald met amber.

A/N: I know, the ending I used is really cliché. Like everyone uses it, but I really like it. Now you can tell me how much you love my story, hehe, just kidding. But if you do love my story, please feel free to press that blue button down there that says 'submit review'!

Ostia is a real city; it's the port city that leads to Rome. I know 'cause I'm taking Latin. I was actually awake that day, hehe. It's boring, but learning some Roman history (especially mythology) is actually quite fun. It helps with vocabulary and roots, even though my vocabulary is still very limited. Hey, English is my second language, so give me a break.


	9. Chapter 9

My reviews were rather funny, no offense to you guys, I love you all! Everyone was like 'Finally! Syaoran and Sakura meet each other!' I would've said the same thing if I were reading this story. I'm really sorry for holding it out so long, but technically, Syaoran already met Sakura, in a way. He saw her and knows about her. But I guess it's not the same. Kisses to all of you who reviewed, and so quickly too! Love you guys!

I'm so proud of myself tear, I updated so quickly this time (well, actually I had most of this chapter done, so…hehe, yeah). But anyway, you guys didn't need to know that!!

On with the story! Enjoy!

**The Amber Eyed Gladiator: Forbidden Games**

By: Sakuratenshi89

Chapter Nine

_The Gladiatorial Institute of Rome, Rome, Italy, 87 A.D._

'_Those eyes are so cold, yet so warm and passionate at the same time,_' Sakura thought dazedly. '_They're like nothing I've ever seen before. Amber, nobody I knew had amber eyes. They're so beautiful, like jewels_.'

Syaoran too, was unable to move, he gazed into her emerald orbs. '_Her eyes are so beautiful, no wonder everyone falls in love with her. They all drown in her eyes, sort of like I am right now._'

"Sakura are you all right?" Paul asked worriedly as he finally reached his fiancée's side, obliviously breaking the spell that had been placed upon Sakura and her rescuer.

"Be careful next time," muttered Syaoran lowly so no one but Sakura could hear.

Sakura nodded almost imperceptibly.

Syaoran immediately released Sakura from his arms when Paul arrived, letting the prince take care of his own fiancée.

The girl stood up shakily with Paul's help after the amber-eyed man (in her point of view) had released her into Paul's arms. "I'm fine honestly. There's really no need to worry Paul."

She turned to Syaoran who had been watching silently. "Thank you…uh…"

"This is Syaoran Li," introduced Gaius proudly, "He is my newest recruit, you know Paul, the one I was just speaking of. He came all the way from China. He has not even been here a full week yet and he has already beaten over half of my students. And let me tell you something, my students do not lose easily. It takes great skill to beat any single one of my students. Very talented too, speaks many languages, I got him for a good price."

"I'm very impressed," Paul said genuinely as he stood up and held his hand out. "From China huh?"

Syaoran nodded.

"Were you one of those captives?" blurted Sakura in Chinese.

"Forgive my fiancée, she tends to just speak her mind," laughed Paul, also speaking in Chinese, hoping Sakura didn't offend the gladiator-in-training in some sort of way, for he was interested in this man and his talents.

"It's fine, Your Majesty," replied Syaoran in Latin quietly, but with no emotion. "And to answer your question, yes, I was one of those captives."

'_His voice is so rich, not at all sounding like a slave's voice. He knows Latin too, he's very educated. He must have been from a rich family. I wonder if they miss him at all? What am I thinking? Of course they'd have to miss him, he's a member of their family, probably the heir_,' thought Sakura as she looked him over. '_He carries himself very well, with pride and nobility, not at all like the slouching stance of a slave or a lower class citizen. He sort of has that air of royalty around him, with those looks he could pass off as a god_.' She blushed faintly at her thoughts. No one noticed, no one save Gaius, but he pretended not to have seen anything, and Sakura hadn't seen him staring.

"There's this ball that is to be held in Sakura's honor," Paul was saying as Sakura's head cleared from those thoughts of the gladiator in front of her, "Gaius, you're invited and we would like you to bring a few of your best students with you."

"Thank you," said Gaius, bowing. "I'm looking forward to it."

Sakura and Paul smiled and soon left.

Syaoran stood there, gazing at the spot where Sakura had been standing.

"She's a beauty isn't she? An exquisite flower, cherry blossom, if I'm not mistaken," commented Gaius, smiling knowingly at the entranced gladiator.

"And way out of my reach,' muttered Syaoran lowly, but loud enough for the wise old man to hear.

"Everything will work itself out in the end. You'll see."

Syaoran stared at Gaius in surprise. '_What in the world is he talking about? What does he mean, everything will work out in the end? What will work out?_'

"Just be patient and wait," Gaius smiled mysteriously and left the room.

_The Streets of Rome, Rome, Italy, 87 A.D._

"Now that wasn't so bad, was it princess?" teased Paul as they got into the carriage waiting for them outside the main entrance to the Institute.

"No, it was okay," said Sakura quietly. Her mind remained on the quiet, mysterious gladiator-in-training she had met a few minutes ago rather than on the visit. No matter how hard she tried, her mind remained centered on that amber-eyed gladiator (little did she know that he was also thinking of her at the time).

'_He was handsome, like the Greek god Adonis _(A/N: sorry I don't know the Roman equivalent of the Greek god Adonis, so just bear with me, you get the point anyway, Syaoran is REALLY handsome, okay?)' Sakura shivered when she remembered how warm his arms were and the way he had held her so lightly as if she were a delicate piece of glass. She blushed furiously as she thought of his muscular chest and arms and how they had felt around her. She turned even more red when she remember what he had said to her, "_Be careful next time_."

"Are you okay?" asked Paul. "Maybe you haven't quite recovered from that fall yet. Your cheeks are bright red."

Sakura jumped a little when his voice interrupted her rather, uh…naughty thoughts and laughed nervously. "Of course I'm okay. I'm just a bit warm, it was rather stuffy in the building." She lied through her teeth, the building had been freezing.

"Yes, I suppose it was rather warm in there," said Paul, not buying the excuse one bit, but he let it drop. He just thought that she was a bit tired from the trip.

'_Stupid,_' Sakura scolded herself. '_You have a great fiancé and you're thinking of another man. A man who you can't even talk to without him getting in trouble, there's no point in thinking of him, he's just a slave. Paul looks just as good as he does…but he doesn't have that mysterious aura surrounding him that makes that Syaoran Li seem so…STOP!_'

Paul stared at his fiancée as she shook her head furiously and shrugged. He really didn't know what was going on in that head of hers. He asked hesitantly, "Are you sure you aren't ill Sakura?" Her face was turning even redder. He felt her forehead. "You're burning up! We better go back to the palace immediately. Driver!" Paul poked his head out of the carriage window.

Sakura sighed quietly in relief. Maybe this was good that Paul thought she was sick, then he wouldn't really suspect anything…'_Not that I've done anything bad but think some rather…okay, you have to stop this Sakura!_'

"What did you tell the driver?" asked Sakura softly when Paul sat back down in the carriage.

"To take us home as quickly as possible. And you missy, are not going out of your room until you have fully recovered,"

Sakura just nodded, thinking that it would probably be the best thing for her too. She could erase all those stupid images of that gladiator from her mind and just concentrate on Paul. He was so devoted to her and she was thinking of some other man. Hopefully she could knock some sense into herself by the next time she met _him_ again.

"I think Tomoyo and Eriol should have arrived by now, I'll get Tomoyo to take care of you, otherwise I'll find one of the maids to look after you," Paul muttered.

'_Maybe Tomoyo could put some sense into my head_,' thought Sakura. '_She's very levelheaded, wait, no, maybe I shouldn't. She would get those starry eyes and say, "Oh Sakura, this is so perfect, how scandalous! I could write a book on it!" Only, it probably wouldn't get published, because women aren't supposed to be famous, much less have their own book published._'

"Maybe we should cancel the ball," Paul thought out loud. "It probably would be the best thing."

"No!" shouted Sakura.

Paul jumped a little at Sakura's sudden outburst.

"I mean no," said Sakura, blushing, "Everyone's invited and the preparations are already taking place, I'd hate for it to be cancel after all they've done."

"I suppose so."

"Please," begged Sakura with puppy dog eyes.

"Don't look at me like that," mumbled Paul huskily, "You know I can't resist those." He leaned towards Sakura slowly, almost hesitantly and before she knew it, his lips were upon hers.

'_His lips are soft, like nothing I've ever felt before_,' thought Sakura, and immediately all thoughts of the amber-eyed gladiator were wiped from her mind.

Paul broke the kiss, his gaze never leaving hers; it remained unwavering, intense. His eyes were dark, with passion and both were breathing heavily. Her lips were rather swollen and red and her cheeks were flushed. He stared into her emerald green eyes and found himself drowning in them as he once again leaned forward to kiss her.

Sakura gasped slightly as Paul's lips tore away from hers and began trailing light, butterfly kisses down her jaw and neck.

Paul smiled and whispered, "You taste of cherries and vanilla."

"Um…Thanks?" Sakura blushed.

"Hush," Paul said, silencing her with his lips. When he ended it he held her to his chest lightly. "Now I better get you back to the palace before you get even more sick. Your face is even redder and warmer than I thought. Maybe I shouldn't have done that."

"No, it was nice," Sakura said quietly.

"Really?" Paul looked quite pleased. He tilted her chin up with his finger and was about to kiss her again when the carriage stopped and the door opened.

"Your Majesty, we have arrived," the driver said.

"Thank you," said Paul a bit harshly, for he was upset at having been interrupted. He turned to Sakura and smiled gently. "Well, we better get you up to your room then." He stepped out of the carriage and offered his hand to Sakura.

"Than…Paul, what on earth are you doing?"

"Carrying you," Paul said, amused as he stared down at the furiously blushing girl he was holding in his arms. "Isn't is obvious?"

"Put me down! I can walk you know!" demanded Sakura.

"You shouldn't do anything when you're sick princess."

Sakura sighed, there really was no point in arguing with Paul, she smiled wryly to herself. '_Whatever he wants, he gets_.'

Paul carried her easily to her bedroom and placed her on the bed, pulling the covers over her. He kissed her on the forehead affectionately, "Get some rest okay? I'll go check and see if Tomoyo and her fiancé have arrived."

"Okay," said Sakura in a small voice.

_The Gladiatorial Institute of Rome, Rome, Italy, 87 A.D._

'_She's the god damn princess!_' Syaoran scolded himself for thinking about her again. '_You're just a slave now, you can't fall in love with her!_'

He was lying down on a cot in the room to which he was assigned. He couldn't stop thinking about her.

'_Oh yeah_?' his mind argued. '_Maybe if you started a secret…_'

'_NO WAY, that is out of the question_,' Syaoran scowled. '_I can't do that, she's engaged. Not possible, besides would she really pay attention to someone like me, a lowly slave?_'

'_Gladiator_.'

'_Whatever_.'

"Great, now I'm talking to the voice inside my head," he muttered, standing up. "I need to clear my head. I think I'm going crazy."

"Knock knock!" came a cheerful voice from the doorway of Syaoran's room.

Syaoran turned from the window and saw Kanto and sighed, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm on my lunch break (A/N: hehe, I don't know if they give servants lunch breaks, they probably do, but shrugs I dunno. Just pretend). I was bought by the emperor," said Kanto. "Well, not the emperor himself, but a representative. So now I work for the emperor. It's pretty nice actually."

Syaoran remained silent, knowing that Kanto had much more to say.

"So…this is the life of a gladiator," said Kanto, entering the room and walking around curiously, though there wasn't much to see. In the room, there were only the necessities, a cot to sleep on, a chest for clothes and other belongings, a mirror (for the vain people), and a pitcher of water. There was also a shelf on which the person could place their sword, shield, and other weaponry. "Kind of dull."

"I'm just a beginner, I haven't actually won any games yet, so this is the room I get. Once I start getting paid, I can afford a much better room, or I could just redecorate," explained Syaoran. "But I don't mind this room, as long as I have everything I need, I'm good."

"You're a very conservative person aren't you?"

"I suppose, I don't really see why royalty needs all the things they have as long as they can survive."

"Were you raised like this?"

"No, I came from a wealthy family," said Syaoran hesitantly. '_That's an understatement_.' He hated lying, but when it was needed, he was awfully good at it.

"Lucky you."

"I wouldn't exactly say that if I were you. Well, you might because you've never been rich you're entire life, no offense. But you've never grown up knowing your whole future. You don't know who you'll marry when you grow up, who you'll be friends with, what you'll do for a living, all of that is planned for me. And I hated it."

"I never really thought about that," mused Kanto out loud. "I just really like the idea of never having to work a single day for you whole life and still have lots of money."

"We're all different," shrugged Syaoran.

"True," said Kanto. "So, buddy, you want to go explore the streets of Rome?"

"With you?" asked Syaoran. A day with Kanto actually didn't seem that bad, at least he wouldn't be alone and he'd have someone to talk to, or more like listen to.

"Course, who else?" said Kanto cheerfully, too cheerfully.

"Okay, as long as you don't try anything funny," said Syaoran, who was rather suspicious of his friend.

"Let's go then!"

"I have a feeling that I'm going to regret this," said Syaoran as they stepped out of his room and he locked his door.

"Nonsense! You're going to enjoy this! It's going to be…"

Syaoran slowly inched away from Kanto as he rambled on about all the places he wanted to see, but Kanto caught him in time.

"Ah-ah-ah, you're coming with me Li Syaoran," Kanto said, grabbing his arm with surprising strength and began dragging him down the hallway.

"Is your lunch break really this long?" Syaoran asked innocently. "I'm sure that we won't be able to see all the spots today."

Kanto's grip on Syaoran's arm loosened slowly, "You're right…"

Syaoran began pulling his arm carefully from Kanto's grip when all of a sudden it tightened even tighter than it had been before making Syaoran yelp in surprise.

"Oh well!" shrugged Kanto as he continued pulling Syaoran. "We'll just continue tomorrow."

Syaoran groaned as he let himself be dragged down the hall and out of the institute.

A/N: Bathrooms, uh, well, I don't think the Roman's had bathrooms, I know they had public baths though. Just pretend that they have bathrooms, okay? I really don't know. I know that none of you asked about it, but I just wanted to clarify that. I think they probably used a bowl or something (don't ask, please). They had a sewer system I think. But it doesn't really matter though, because it's not like I'm going to write a part where Syaoran or someone has to go use the bathroom. smile

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Omg, I just thought of something, my character Kanto sort of reminds me of Sirius from Harry Potter. giggle That's really funny, but, doesn't he? He's cheerful and talkative like Sirius, and strange.

**And I know what all of you are thinking, OH MY GOD!!!!! Sakura actually kissed Paul, but please listen, they're not going to be together in the end. I REPEAT, THEY WON'T BE TOGETHER IN THE END. REMEMBER THAT THIS IS A SS FICTION. IT'S CALLED THE AMBER EYED GLADIATOR: FORBIDDEN GAMES, I'M SURE YOU ALL KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. SO I'LL JUST BE QUIET NOW. And please, no mean reviews. I know all of you hate Paul. I swear, cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye, that Syaoran and Sakura will end up together. This is just temporary.**

PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!! Thanks to all these people:

SS43v3r

pinky

anon

Heather-Hezzer-and-Honaluki

Lil Cherry Blossom Angel

Viky

Sang H

The Crystally Water

isa

AnimeObsessionFantasy

Avelyn Lauren

Final Fantasy Princess

Emerald-Tenshi

Shinhwa-GurL89

Yaua

Kelly

MeNtOmUnChKiN

mycherrywolf

ziaoMe0W

kittyfaerie3000

Qleo-chan

AnonymousT

SakuraAngel

hellfier

Lanturn

Piccoleia Star

sunny smiles

lyhto

Angelic Night Goddess

Cherry Jade

Mecha-Griever

jbg

myREEN n' RAAYneer

Sakura Moon

dreamschemer

A Thousand Paper Cranes

enigma-spirit

Riley S

REbellious-Cherry

earthy876

Kawaii Bunnii

Rumpleteasza

Time Warp

Ice Jayden

SibylSofiana

Sorry, to all those people, who I missed or didn't get, but I love all of you guys!!!! (Don't worry, I'm not leaving yet.) It's nice knowing that people actually read my stupid notes. I just ramble on and on, like I'm doing now.

**Personal Notes to the Readers**: (All those that I received from chapter 8, if I didn't get yours, I'm really sorry, I'll put it in my next chapter)

**SS43v3r**: Thanks! I think it's a good chapter too, not trying to brag, but yeah, eight chapters until they first meet? I kinda did drag it out, but I did it with good reason! (That you guys would keep on reading, hehe, I'm evil)

**Pinky**: Sorry that I made a cliffhanger, hehe, I didn't think that people liked my story that much. It really makes me happy knowing that I have such a devoted reader! You're review was probably the longest I've ever received, actually it is the longest.

**Anon**: Shifty?! Hehe, that's actually funny, no offense. I guess I can see how you got shifty. Whatever you think, it doesn't matter though I guess, cause everyone knows that Sakura and Syaoran are gonna be together, and that's a fact. Right?

**Heather-Hezzer-and-Honaluki**: Thanks for that really encouraging comment (not being sarcastic), it's really nice to know that some people find my story good, I just hope that more people will actually review. sigh but it doesn't matter.

**Viky**: Thanks for the correction, I'll change it as soon as I possibly can.

**Sang H**: You can count on me for keep on updating!!!!!! I'm not quitting on this story (unlike all my other ones) I feel like I'm actually getting somewhere with this one.

**The Crystally Water**: No way! The story is definitely NOT going to be Paul and Sakura, I couldn't let that happen. Syaoran and Sakura are soulmates, besides, Syaoran is WAYYYYY hotter than Paul ever could be grins.

**Isa**: What can I say? I updated!!

**AnimeObsessionFantasy**: That's exactly what everyone else thought, and how I would've felt if I were a reader smile.

**Avelyn Lauren**: No, Sakura is not going to be the card mistress. I couldn't really fit magic into my plot, well I guess I could, but…I'm kind of lazy, hehe.

**Final Fantasy Princess**: Thanks, it's just that a lot of stories I read were like, "And emerald met amber." Plus I sort of wanted a cliffhanger (Don't kill me, I know, I'm torturing you guys, but admit it, most authors love doing it, I'm not an exception). Thanks, really, it's nice knowing that my ending isn't too cliché.

NEXT CHAPTER!: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN Sakura AND Syaoran MEET AGAIN???????


	10. Chapter 10

Hey everyone! Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I'm glad that you guys understood that Sakura and Syaoran would get together in the end and that Paul is just like a temporary sort of thing. Yeah, couldn't have stressed that more huh? --; I just wanted to make sure that you guys wouldn't get mad at me, I hate it when people do. Makes me feel like I can't do anything right sigh. Well I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

Just another note to everyone, I probably won't be updating as quickly now, I have a lot of things to do. Maybe I'll update at least once a week, or once every two weeks. I have to sort of figure out and plan how this story is going to go. So I admit, I have some writers block, but let me just reassure you that I'm not quitting on this story. I will be finishing the story, just slowly. But I still really appreciate your reviews!

I wrote some notes to all of you reviewers, some are longer than others, but I still appreciate them all the same! Thanks to all you guys!

**The Amber Eyed Gladiator: Forbidden Games**

By: Sakuratenshi89

Chapter Ten

_The Palace, Rome, Italy, 87 A.D._

As Sakura was settling into the bed with the help of her personal maid, a very upset woman barged into her room, panting. She startled Sakura and had the maid scared half to death by the intrusion.

Sakura blinked and thought she was imagining things, "Tomoyo!" she squealed.

"Sakura! I can't believe it's you!" Tomoyo ran up and hugged her friend tightly. "It's been so long.

"I know," sighed Sakura happily.

Tomoyo frowned as she felt her friend's forehead with her hand. "You're burning up!"

"I'm fine, I just…"

"I'm going to kill him!" growled Tomoyo.

"Who?" asked Sakura curiously, "Don't go doing something rash Tomoyo. Who are you going to kill?"

"Why that fiancé of yours of course," said Tomoyo. "He said, _promised_, that he would take care of you for me, but look at you, you're sick already, and you're still up and about!"

"Well, I was getting ready to go to bed when a certain someone came barging in here, causing a racket," said Sakura dryly.

"Sorry," Tomoyo blushed. "I was overreacting I guess."

"You guess?"

"I'm just concerned," Tomoyo defended herself. "You're my best friend, and I care about you."

"Thanks Tomoyo," Sakura smiled. "Besides, I'm not really sick, I was just warm, Paul mistook that for being sick."

"You're going to bed whether you like it or not missy," Tomoyo demanded. She turned to the maid and dismissed her saying, "You can leave, I'll take care of things from here."

The young girl bowed and left the room, closing the door behind her.

"Tomoyo, you wanna sneak out?"

"WHAT?!"

"I said…"

"I know what you said," hissed Tomoyo angrily. "Are you nuts? We'll get caught; besides, we aren't supposed to be out by ourselves alone. If we get caught…well, I don't want to know what happens then. I don't want to find out either."

"Please Tomoyo?" Sakura put on her best puppy eyes look that could melt anyone's heart, and that included Tomoyo who always had a soft spot for her younger cousin.

Tomoyo sighed, "I could never say no to you Sakura."

"Yay!"

"How are we getting out?"

"Climb?" Sakura suggested. "I've done it before."

"Are you sure?" Tomoyo asked nervously.

"Yup! Help me find some sheets or something that we can tie to this post. Then we'll just climb down that 'rope'," said Sakura.

"Okay," said Tomoyo, hesitantly, being a goody-two-shoes, she had never tried this before. But she trusted Sakura with her whole heart, for she knew that Sakura would always sneak out of the palace, uncaught. Well, until her brother found out. She smiled at that thought, Touya (who kind of caught on after Sakura had done it three days in a row) made sure thing that he checked upon her everyday after he was done with his duties. He had been rather angry with her the first time, but stubborn Sakura hadn't backed down. He gradually grew used to the fact that his little sister wanted some freedom, and so his anger melted into frustration, worry, and later sympathy.

"Let's go Tomoyo!" Sakura called out to her cousin. "Are you okay? You were standing there daydreaming for quite a while."

"I'm fine Sakura, just thinking about the old days."

Sakura smirked, "Too bad Touya isn't here huh?"

Tomoyo laughed.

"Well, here we go!"

_The Streets of Rome, Rome, Italy, 87 A.D._

"Where the hell are we going?" Syaoran growled.

Kanto shrugged, "I don't know."

Syaoran was about to rip his bloody head off, "What the hell do you mean 'I don't know'?"

"It means exactly what it means."

"Whatever," said Syaoran through clenched teeth. "I'll be leading the way from now on. No way am I ever letting you lead the way ever again. Let's go visit the Colosseum, I haven't seen that place yet."

"Want to get better acquainted with it, do you?" teased Kanto. "Plus, what's the point? We'd be wasting a trip. It's right next to the Institute, and we're practically on the other side of Rome. We might as well visit something here than go all the way back."

Syaoran remained silent; he just walked on, ignoring his friend.

Kanto had to almost run to catch up to Syaoran's long strides. Syaoran naturally had long legs and with that came a bigger stride, and somehow he made it look very natural, it wasn't at all awkward. (A/N: We all love a guy with a natural sort of swagger, don't we girls? wink. Syaoran is just like the perfect man sigh)

"Don't get too comfortable," warned Kanto. "You know of the things that could happen to you."

"Of course I do, do you think I would've agreed if I didn't know the conditions?"

"No, but…well, as your friend, I'm just warning you."

"Thanks," said Syaoran in a softer, but still cold tone.

"Well…well…well…if it isn't my cute little descendant?"

Syaoran's eyes widened and he groaned, "NO, not possible, why out of all places did he have to be here? Why do these things happen to me? Kami-sama, do you just love torturing me?"

"Nice to see you again too," came the all-too-familiar-smirk.

"Oh, my pleasure," Syaoran said sarcastically.

"Who's he?" asked Kanto.

"Him? You mean the most annoying person in the world who seems to follow me everywhere I go just to see me in pain and…"

"I'm Eriol Hiiragizawa," Eriol interrupted Syaoran's rambling.

"Kanto Hirashi. I have a feeling that we're going to get along just great," smirked Kanto.

"No you two are not getting together. It's already bad that I have a friend like him," Syaoran jerked his head towards Kanto (who exclaimed 'HEY!' like a minute after the remark). "I do not need two people who can irritate the hell out of me. And I especially do not want you to hang out around me Eriol."

"

_The Colosseum, Rome, Italy, 87 A.D_.

"Well, here we are," announced an excited Tomoyo. They stood in front of the gates of the Colosseum, Tomoyo admiring it's architecture, and overall structure and design. Sakura was sulking and mumbling.

"Here, you said that you'd take me to this really cool place you saw on your way here and you bring me _here_?!" shouted Sakura.

A few passing people stared at Sakura strangely, not noticing she was the princess.

"She's just really glad to be here," stated Tomoyo to the people calmly.

"Glad?!" screamed Sakura. "How can I be glad? You know how much I…"

Tomoyo clamped her hand around Sakura's mouth, silencing her friend. She hissed, "Are you crazy?! Do you _want_ us to get _caught_? Besides, you sad that I could choose where we go today, and I choose the Colosseum." They entered the building (the guards recognized Sakura and allowed her to enter with Tomoyo, assuming that she was also royalty).

Sakura nodded reluctantly, "All right, but I'm not really happy about being here."

"I could've never guessed," Tomoyo stated wryly. Then she brightened up and giggled, "Well, don't think of the gruesome things, think of all those hot guys in the arena. There have to be _some_ worth looking at."

Sakura turned bright red at the thought, '_Syaoran Li, he was so handsome, Tomoyo's right; maybe it will be fun…STOP! What are you doing Sakura?! You have a perfectly good-looking fiancé waiting hand and foot on you back at the palace and he adores you! Tomoyo has one too! What is SHE thinking?!_'

"Ah hah! I knew there was something else behind your 'fever'," Tomoyo smirked. "Paul mentioned that you caught it right after your visit to the Institute. So did you meet a really cute, hot guy there?"

"Uh…"

"You can tell me Sakura? It's not like I'll tell Paul. I don't like him that much anyway," stated Tomoyo.

"Well, I guess there was a handsome guy there," said Sakura slowly.

"You guess?" Tomoyo said incredulously.

"Okay fine," said an irritated Sakura. "He was extremely _hot_."

"That's much better."

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"What does he look like?"

"Well…he has amber eyes and chocolate brown hair," sighed Sakura dreamily.

"Oh…sounds nice," Tomoyo said approvingly. "Muscles?"

"Lots."

"Not buff though?" winced Tomoyo.

"NO. He's lean but strong."

"You've got yourself a nice catch there honey," smiled Tomoyo. "Sounds like the perfect man."

"Yeah, but I'm engaged," said Sakura bitterly.

"By contract," reminded Tomoyo.

"One that I agreed to, and so did Paul," said Sakura sadly.   
"But it's also one that you can break any time."

"No. I can't just break it off with Paul just because I met some really gorgeous man," Sakura rolled her eyes again.

"Sure you can."

"No I can't Tomoyo. You don't understand," Sakura began staring into the distance, getting distracted. They were halfway up on the stands, which was pretty far up, considering how big the stadium was. She had a beautiful view of the city. Then she looked down…

"Well, you could always have an affair," suggested Tomoyo. '_It would be so interesting_.'

Sakura gaped.

"I know, it sounds outrageous, but it's really romantic…"

"No! I mean…"

"You'll do it?" asked an eager Tomoyo.

"NO!" Sakura pointed to a point behind Tomoyo. "Isn't that Eriol?"

Tomoyo turned and saw her fiancé waving from below, then she noticed someone else, "Hey, Sakura, is that…"

"Yeah," mumbled Sakura. "That's him all right, no mistake about it."

"You really did pick a good one," Tomoyo wiggled her eyebrows. "So how about that suggestion I just made? About having an affair? It would be worth it from what I can see. I wouldn't mind starting one with him myself."

"Shut up," said Sakura weakly, hitting Tomoyo on the arm playfully. "I'm a princess, I can't do that, I'd bring shame to my whole family."

"Unless somehow you get Paul's family to agree to cover the story."

"Tomoyo," Sakura said sharply. "It's simply out of the question. I can't do it."

"All right," said Tomoyo softly.

"I'm sorry Tomoyo," Sakura stated, sighing. "I know you were only trying to help."

"Are you hurting my fiancé?" came a teasing voice.

"Course I am," smirked Sakura. "What can I say? She's just so damn happy all the time? I just wanted to be like her."

Eriol laughed and hugged Tomoyo who gladly hugged him in return. "Funny, it seems she's everything but happy when she's in my presence."

Tomoyo frowned. "Why you…"

"Just kidding darling," Eriol laughed nervously.

"So there is something that the great Eriol Hiiragizawa is scared of," said Syaoran, walking up, smirking.

Sakura tensed up immediately as she heard the voice that had been haunting her ever since she left the Institute.

"Sakura, I want you to meet my cousin…"

"We've met," Syaoran said shortly.

"Well, I don't believe _we've met_," stated Kanto, coming up behind Syaoran.

"This is Kanto Hirashi," introduced Eriol.

"Pleasure, I'm Sakura Kinomoto."

"Pleased to meet you too, Your Highness," stated Kanto, bowing.

"You can call me Sakura, please," said Sakura softly. "I don't like the formalities."

"Very well…Sakura."

There was an awkward silence in the group, well, unless you count Syaoran growling softly. But no one really noticed, they were all lost amidst their own thoughts.

"So…my dear fiancé, what are you doing here out of all places?" asked Eriol curiously.

"I wanted to show Sakura the coolest place in all of Rome, if not, Italy," Tomoyo smiled secretly.

"And the most gruesome," gagged Sakura.

"Other people enjoy the games Princess," Syaoran pointed out.

Sakura blushed a little when he addressed her, but she covered it quickly and frowned saying, "Well, I'm not like most people."

'_No, you definitely aren't_,' thought Syaoran, he spoke calmly, "NO, I suppose you aren't."

"Of course she isn't, she's a princess!" commented Kanto.

"Yeah, but every royal person is still a human being. It doesn't matter," argued Syaoran, forgetting that he was in front of Sakura and the others.

"Wow, Mr. Philosopher."

Syaoran scowled, "Shut up Kanto."

"Hey love birds!" called Sakura as soon as the little fight ended; she watched Tomoyo and Eriol, who were making eyes at each other. It was rather sickening. '_Can't they do that stuff in private? Ha, who am I kidding, Tomoyo loves makes scenes, she loves the public._'

"Yes Sakura?" Tomoyo asked distractedly, her eyes never leaving Eriol's.

"Do you two mind?" Syaoran asked disgusted.

"Actually, we were just planning on leaving," Eriol said, smiling. He broke the gaze he had on Tomoyo and turned to Syaoran.

"We were?" asked Tomoyo, then realization dawned, "Oh yeah! We were!"

Syaoran rolled his eyes.

"Sakura, are you going to be all right with these two?" asked Tomoyo worriedly, looking at her cousin.

"Uh…sure…"

Tomoyo smirked at her, making Sakura frown.

"Great!" Tomoyo exclaimed, clapping her hands happily. "Well, we'll be off." She grabbed Eriol's hand and they left the Colosseum.

"Kuso (Damn!…I think that's what is means)!" Kanto cursed, startling Sakura and Syaoran who'd been watching Tomoyo and Eriol leave the huge stadium.

"What?!" asked Sakura, concerned.

"I completely forgot that I have to get back to the palace," Kanto said apologetically. "I'll get fired if I don't return. It must have slipped my mind that I was on my lunch break. I shouldn't have walked this far…Well, I'm sorry. Syaoran, I'll see you tomorrow."

Syaoran groaned, his friend was NOT leaving him with Sakura.

"It was a pleasure meeting you Prin…Sakura," Kanto began climbing down the steps.

"Wait!" Sakura shouted as Kanto was about to go out the entrance. "I'm going back to the palace too! We can go together!"

Syaoran's heart dropped. She didn't want to spend any time with someone like him. Someone who had a job she hated.

"No, it's okay, you're here for fun, go out and have some fun. You go with Syaoran, he'll take care of you, he's a good guy," and with that, Kanto left.

Now it was just the two of them, both wanted to be alone together, yet at the same time, they couldn't stand being alone together. (A/N: you know, you want to be with the person, but you also don't want to be with him/her because you don't know what to say or talk about. So this is the part where there's a really long awkward silence, hehe.)

'_ "He's a good guy,"'_ thought Sakura. '_That's what I'm afraid of._'

"Princess?"

"Huh? Oh, Syaoran, guess we better get going then. Is there any place in particular that you want to go visit? Now, I don't know Rome very well either, but I'm sure that some friendly Romans can help us find our way, we won't get lost…"

"Sometimes we don't have a choice," Syaoran said quietly, interrupting the rambling Sakura.

"What?"

"We were picked for the job, we didn't get an interview or choose the job," Syaoran had mistaken her previous silence for not being comfortable around a gladiator. He felt as though he needed to clarify things so she could be comfortable around him.

"Well, you could've turned the job down," Sakura said bluntly.

"Not all of us can."

"What do you mean?"

"We're bought, we have to obey, we really don't have a say if we want to fight or not."

"Well, some aren't bought, they voluntarily choose to become a gladiator."

"It might be the only they're good at."

"Fighting?" Sakura scoffed.

"It could be the only way to feed and raise their family."

Sakura remained silent, "I just don't see why any family would let a member of their family, their own flesh and blood, become a gladiator. It would kill me, knowing the possibility that my cousin, father, brother, or husband, might not be coming home one day."

"And yet people still hang on to the hope that one day that person just might come home."

Sakura started walking down the steps of the stands.

"Is that how you feel about your brother, what you said?" asked Syaoran abruptly.

Sakura's body went rigid as she stopped just one step above the ground level of the stadium, "How do you know about Touya?" Sakura demanded sharply.

"Sorry," Syaoran muttered. "I shouldn't have asked that question. I know, it's personal."

"No, I should be sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you. I apologize," Sakura said warily. "But really, tell me, how do you know Touya?"

"Well I _was_ a prisoner of war, how could I not have known? He was the captain, we all knew. We were all informed when we surrendered."

"Good point."

They were silent for a few minutes (A/N: this happens a lot when you have nothing to talk about or write about in my case…hehe). Syaoran took this silent time to occupy himself by walking down the rather steep steps of the stands.

"Yes, that's how I felt about my brother," Sakura resumed speaking as Syaoran reached the bottom. She stepped down from the last step and they began walking to an exit. "It was painful, knowing that there was a chance he would never make it back home. But like you said, I still hoped that he would come back, I never stop hoping. I guess other people don't either."

"I imagine that it would be more painful to the soldier than anyone else," Syaoran spoke quietly as they walked down the streets of Rome, heading towards the palace slowly. "Especially when they do die. Everyday they live with the guilt that their loved ones are suffering because of them, they always regret leaving them in that state."

Sakura couldn't speak, Syaoran was a very thoughtful person, and his words made sense. They were simple, yet so full of meaning. He was right.

"Well, I guess you won that argument there," she smiled.

"Did I Princess?" Syaoran said amusedly. "I didn't even realize that we were arguing."

Sakura mock scowled at the amber-eyed gladiator. "You think that you're so funny don't you?"

Syaoran just grinned and Sakura felt as if she were melting into a puddle right then and right there. He was ten times more handsome when he smiled, but he was still very good looking (a god) without it too. She blushed again at her thoughts.

"I'm funny when I choose to be," Syaoran murmured, breaking the train of (rather naughty) thoughts running through Sakura's head.

Sakura laughed and said sarcastically, "Sure." She caught sight of a man advertising for a pasta restaurant (A/N: I don't know if they did have restaurants back then, but just please imagine that they did have one).

"I haven't had anything for lunch yet," Sakura mused out loud, then turning to Syaoran, she asked, "Have you?"

Syaoran shook his head.

"Let's eat in there," Sakura suggested, pointing to the restaurant.

"Sure," Syaoran shrugged, "It doesn't matter."

To Sakura, Syaoran looked as though he were worried about something, "Don't worry, this one's on me." She just assumed he was worried about how they would pay for the bill.

"It wasn't the money I was worrying about," Syaoran said slowly, a smirking coming onto his handsome face. "I was just wondering if they would have enough food to feed someone like you Princess."

"Why you!" Sakura growled. "You better be glad I'm a princess and I'm not supposed to be acting violet, otherwise you'd be on the ground, dead right now."

"I'm sure I would," Syaoran said wryly, still grinning at Sakura's red face.

"Shut up, let's go eat," Sakura snapped, touchy from Syaoran's comment.

Syaoran just followed her into the restaurant, grinning all the way.

A/N: I'm sorry, most of this is dialogue. I'm sorry for the cliff-hanging message I put at the end of the last chapter, I understood that most of you really well…got upset.

**Personal Notes to the Readers for Chapter 9!!!**

**Sailor Universe1**: Yeah, I thought I knew that they were pretty advanced in civilization, I just wasn't positive on the bathroom part, cause people in America had to use chamber pots and all, so…you know what I mean. Thanks for the clarification on that. :)

**A Thousand Paper Cranes**: Thanks about the good writing part (actually I started learning English when I was four, so it wasn't that hard for me, hehe --;). The bathroom parts make sense, I think, well you know more than I do, I just finished my first year of Latin. To tell you the truth, we didn't learn much; I probably know more French than I do Latin (cause my Latin teacher is also a French teacher), haha.

**Archangel Rhapsody**: Thanks :)

**Dreamer**: So, how was the meeting? Interesting? (Well, it might not seem interesting, well to me it didn't, but you're entitled to your own opinion, and as the author, I this chapter a bit boring, but it was fun to write…I'm contradicting myself…shrugs o well.)

**Piccoleia Star**: Thank you! I hope it is grins back.

**Seniya**: I don't ramble too much? Hehe.

**kittyfaerie3000**: I know, poor Syaoran, but he'll be thanking Kanto for this now that he and Sakura are well…unofficially friends.

**me101**: Thank you! I'm sorry I wasn't able to update that quickly. I had to fix some things and then I had a short vacation so I couldn't get near a computer.

**pureiceangel25**: Sorry, I couldn't update sooner. Thanks for the honor of receiving your first review smile. I appreciate it a whole lot. Well, eventually Sakura and Syaoran get married (but don't tell anyone I told you that, it'll ruin my entire story). Of course Touya approves, they're friends after all. I know it seems really weird, but I'm not completely following the manga. Touya likes Syaoran and admires him in this one.

**dranius**: Um…could you please clarify what you're talking about? I'm not trying to offend you or anything, I honestly have no clue what you're talking about. Are you saying when he asks her to get some rest? That as a response to THAT question she either faints or snogs him senseless?

**Viky**: Hehe. Thanks.

**ToTaL cHaOs175**: Tear thank you so much, it's nice to know that people out there appreciate my writing (even I sometimes don't myself).

**Lil Cherry Blossom Angel**: Arigatou. I can tell you this; Sakura already has a huge crush on Syaoran. Soon, it'll be developing into something much better, much bigger…well, keep on reading my story! I hope you truly enjoy it!

**Cherry Princess Sakura**: I updated! I hope this chapter is kawaii too!

**SS43v3r**: I'm sorry about the slow part…I'm trying to drag it out, make it longer…sorry. I'm sorry about Paul part too…sigh he's such a good character, I really hate to just throw him away…maybe I'll write a story about him…hmmm…not a bad idea. But you shouldn't be sad about Paul (you probably aren't), he'll find someone else; there are plenty of beautiful women out there for him…just not Sakura. Besides, Sakura and Syaoran are meant to be and you can't interfere with destiny, hehe.

**Mecha-Griever**: You're completely right; Syaoran and Touya's friendship will come later in this fic, I just haven't figured out when and how, hehe --; that's me. Always planning ahead (yeah, right). So, you're not suspicious. That's why I had them friends in the first place even though it wasn't like that in the books.

**mycherrywolf**: I know! Syaoran is a total hottie! My Latin teacher showed us a thing on the Colosseum and the life of a gladiator. The guy who was acting as the gladiator was a hottie, and so I was thinking that it would be a good story line and who else was better for the part than our very own Syaoran Li! Everyone wants a story where Syaoran goes around not wearing a shirt right? (Actually I think they had shirts in public, but when they're fighting they don't drool). I can't stand having an ugly character being the main male character; it makes me shudder. Besides, I think that all gladiators probably were cute guys, cause they all had muscles and worked out, and they were slaves, and European, most European guys are cute (notice I said MOST). Well I'd love to hear from you next time.

**Qleo-chan**: I know, I would have put the camera in here, except for the fact that well, you know, the camera hasn't been invented sigh, oh well, too bad, she'll just have to draw out the pictures. I don't know, maybe I'll just have Tomoyo be a more normal girl in this story, as normal as someone like her can be. I'll leave her without a camera or drawing pad, she'll just be a starry eyed, matchmaking, always scheming Tomoyo.

**Heather-Hezzer-andHonaluki**: Chamber pots make sense…hmm…doesn't really matter though, I don't think I'll have a bathroom scene, maybe a bath scene, but that's different. Keep those reviews coming!

**pinky**: I'm sorry about the terrible cliff hanger, I hope you're feeling better now though, I updated. I've relieved you of some of the stress and frustration you feel. Hehe. Yeah, well, you're reviews are still pretty long smile, but I love 'em; keep 'em long and coming! Thanks! (I'm sorry about that little episode, with you losing your really long review that took so long to write, you should tell me that joke one day, and don't forget to save your review or something this time wink).

**Avelyn Lauren**: Oh yeah –-;, hehe, I forgot about that little detail. You're right, there is some magic. I've been out of it lately; I just also remembered that scene where Touya noticed that Syaoran noticed that Yukito had an aura of magic around him. Man, I need to read my own story! Thanks for the reminder, without it; I would've forgotten I had magic in my story, haha. I found something on Adonis, here I got it from an encyclopedia: in Greek mythology, a youth of remarkable beauty, the favorite of the goddess Aphrodite. Traditionally he was the product of the incestuous love Smyrna (Myrrha) entertained for her own father, the Syrian king Theias (eww, that's really disgusting, isn't it?). Charmed by his beauty, Aphrodite put the newborn Adonis in a box and handed him over to the care of Persephone, the queen of the underworld, who afterward refused to give him up. An appeal was made to Zeus, the king of the gods, who decided that Adonis should spend a third of the year with Persephone and a third with Aphrodite, the remaining third being at his own disposal. Adonis became an enthusiastic hunter, and was killed by a wild boar during the chase. Aphrodite pleaded for his life with Zeus, who allowed Adonis to spend half of each year with her and half in the underworld. So he actually wasn't a god of anything.

**Riley S**: I know, I was so proud of myself for updating so quickly, two chapters in a row!

**Cherry Jade**: It makes this story really fun to write, when you get to write other people's thoughts (and their actions of course), especially their naughty ones, hehe.

**AnimeObsessionFantasy**: I know, but Syaoran had to have a friend, and more than one, and I couldn't let it be Yamazaki because he's Japanese, so I had to create another character. Of course, the character turned out to be like a mix between Eriol and Yamazaki, really talkative and scheming and a good friend all in all.

So thanks to all my reviewers and I hope that all of you guys enjoyed this chapter, and stay tuned for the next one!!!!!

Next Chapter...............I don't think I'm going to tell you guys, for the fear that some of you might kill me (jk), hehe.


	11. Chapter 11

I'm back from the beach! Boy was it awesome! I met tons of cute guys!!!! Hehe. It was the best. Sort of took me a while to get back into the game but it was worth it. I know this update took me forever, but I kind of had to re-read the whole story over to see where I was going with this story and to try and tie some loose ends together. But I guess that plan didn't quite work out. I'm going to try and update faster, but it's going to be really hard seeing as I start school in less than a week and I just have so much to do!!!! Ahhhhh!!!!!! I don't know how I'm going to survive!!!! Yeah, since there are so many loose ends just hanging in every single chapter, I've decided that…**I'M GOING TO DELETE THIS STORY SOON**!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAHA, just kidding, I'm probably just going to go back later and add some details, delete other things, etc. you know, just fix some problems.

I decided to name the pasta place Augustus's Pasta House.

**Personal Notes to the Readers for Chapter 10!!!**

**Final Fantasy Princess**: That's okay, as long as you review sometime, hehe. I'm sorry about the Internet connection, and I totally know how it feels. I was computer-less for two weeks. I thought I was going to die! Syaoran and Sakura are cute together aren't they? Man, I need to know my story better, after being away for so long, I've forgotten what I was going to write. I'm going to go back and read my story over. There are so many holes and loose ends in there. Thanks for the great review!

**Mecha-Griever**: That _would_ make this pretty interesting…having Sakura and Syaoran have an affair. But I dunno, I'll just think of something as I write. Yeah, like I told Final Fantasy Princess, I have a ton of loose ends and holes in my story, I'll probably go back later and fix when I'm completely done with my story.

**Qleo-chan**: I kind of like the idea of Syaoran as a bad boy, hehe, can't you just see him though, wearing a leather jacket, with cool sunglasses, riding a motorcycle? Haha, sort of fits his whole emotionless facade and his attitude. But I can't really see Sakura having an affair, well unless her character and personality were totally different. She's too innocent, but hey, it would make the story interesting.

**kittyfaerie3000**: Thanks, sorry, about not updating soon.

**LovelyLadyLuna**: Thanks for adding my story to the list of your favorites!!! I'm really sorry about the late update.

**Feathers1**: I know, my story was slow at first. You shouldn't hate Paul, you should feel sorry for him, he's just a fill in sort of character, he'll be out of the entire story at one point…well maybe not entirely. Yeah, he's not a completely bad character, which is going to make choosing between Syaoran and him even harder (yeah, right, Syaoran wins by like, a gazillion more votes, hehe).

**katana-hime**: Sorry to say this, but you're right about having to wait and see. You might have to wait even longer for the coming up chapters wince, I know nobody's going to like this.

**Cherry Jade**: I know, I just adore Sakura and Syaoran moments! sigh it really makes one wish they had a guy as handsome and great as Syaoran Li (all the guys I know are really funny and great, but when it comes to relationships, they're total and complete jerks).

**A Thousand Paper Cranes**: Thanks for all the information!!! That's too bad about the pasta part, it doesn't really matter I guess, I just wanted ya'll to know that I'm not saying there was pasta. I really don't know, I just want to have some accurate information in my story, or as accurate as possible. But who cares? It's my story, and it's AU, so…THANKS! Now I know. Oh, I didn't know about 'kuso' I just thought it meant 'damn' because other people have put it in their stories as 'damn'. Thanks though, I probably won't change it, cause I'm so lazy (actually I will, but not now). Thanks! It's nice to have people tell you what's right when you're wrong. It's better thank looking completely stupid.

**Lil Cherry Blossom Angel**: Naughty stuff? Uh…maybe later. Hehe, I promise. Well I won't get too naughty, this story is rated PG-13, and I don't want to change it to R. I'll include kissing and stuff, just no really explicit content.

**me101**: He might get in trouble smiles mysteriously, well, I think you really already know the answer to that question hint look in the title hint.

**Sunnflower**: Touya will definitely be coming back soon, I just don't know when, because you know how traveling took them forever back then. It took Sakura and Paul two years to reach Rome from Japan in my story. Which, by the way, I'm thinking of changing that, cause that's way too long, but maybe not.

**ayumi-dono**: I know, my story's a bit weird, but that's what a story is, you get to alter history basically. But yeah, I know, Sakura's in for the biggest and hardest decision of her life.

**e=mc2**: Thanks blush considering I almost didn't pass history this past year (but don't tell anyone, hehe, I've already gotten a huge lecture on it from my parents).

**Avelyn Lauren**: You know what? I might just do that, have Sakura blow off some steam, etc. Your welcome about Adonis, actually I wasn't so sure about him myself, I just read other stories and I just assume that their facts are correct, which I know is wrong, but I'm normally a very lazy person hehe. Yeah, she is the Card Mistress, as you will find out in this chapter. This will make my story very complicated.

**Heather-Hezzer-and-Honaluki**: That's fine about the dictionary, I do that a lot, when people are talking I'll be like oh that's blah, blah, blah, in _this_ language, and they're like, "Okayyy." They all think I'm crazy, haha, not really, but I'm sure they have before. I'm just a really random person sometimes. But it's really fun being random and no one knows what you're talking about and you just start laughing really loud. The only downer is that they think you're insane. You probably think that I am right now cause I'm just babbling on and on smile.

**lil Maria**: I don't want to include them, but I really don't have a choice, I already mentioned that Yukito had some magical aura and now in this chapter Sakura is the Card Mistress. So I'll have to be including Kero I guess, even though it'll make my story harder to write, cause I have to incorporate everything. I wanted it to be a simple love story wails but now it's so complicated!!!

**Dreamer**: I think so too! smile They'll be getting along even better as my story continues.

**Pinboo**: Thanks a whole bunch! I know the beginning was slow, it's just to make my story seem longer I guess shrugs, I wanted you guys to keep on reading! I know that all ya'll just can't wait for Sakura and Syaoran to meet, that's the tactic that all authors use. So they just keep on writing about them separately and you just can't wait till they meet and they know that, so you'll just have to keep on reading! I know from personal experience. Clothing…they just all wore togas and stuff like that, believe me, it's utterly boring and pretty useless stuff. Well, not useless, it's just that there weren't many styles or anything back then. It was just a piece of long cloth wrapped around the body. I could give you a lesson on Ancient Roman clothing if you want. We like spent a week learning about this subject in Latin. It was crazy. I'm a simple person, really, I am. I just think and imagine things bigger and better than I can actually write or make. I don't like including too many things in a story, because then things get complicated, which is why I'll never be able to write a book or story or even come up with a plot like J.K. Rowling, the creators of CCS, etc.

**Rosie**: Thanks, I know my summary isn't the best, it doesn't really attract that many people, but I tried. I'm trying not to make it like everyone else's fic.

**Piccoleia Star**: I just LOVE Syaoran Li sigh, sorry about the slow update.

**PeAcH bLSsOm**: I hope everything works out between Sakura and Syaoran (I know I'm the writer…hehe). I have a note on the bottom of this chapter that asks if ya'll want a notice for my next update.

**pureiceangel25**: Thanks smile!

**mycherrywolf**: Well, I could always see if any one of my readers is a good artist and would like to draw a picture of Syaoran in a gladiator outfit! I think I'd faint with happiness, haha. There will definitely be more SS action coming up.

**Sweet Sakura Angel**: Yes, I actually did come up with this plot all by myself, and I'm proud of it. It's the only piece of writing I've gotten so far with, the other ones…well I haven't actually given up, I'm just taking an extended break until I come up with some sort of inspiration.

**Gabzilla**: Same here! I want a gladiator! Especially one whose name is Syaoran Li!!!! Do you think you could send the picture that you drew to me? My email is I'd really like to see it and I'm sure everyone else who reads this story would too. Thanks!

**Ranya**: Yeah, blush I fixed that mistake, I don't know what I was thinking when I put 'Paul' instead of 'ball', I think I'm going crazy. I had an awesome time on my vacation! sigh but now it's really hard getting back on track and remembering where I was going with this story, cause I sort of forgot, but I'm sure it'll come back with my oh-so-great memory (yeah right, haha).

**lil Mari**: Sorry, this one took me forever to write.

**Cherry Princess Sakura**: Guess you'll just have to wait and see! I'll try and update my next chapter sooner.

**AnimeObsessionFantasy**: They were together cause of a contract, but they sort of wanted to be together, because they sort of liked each other and they still do. But you know Syaoran comes along and everything changes…smile

**Ray-sama**: Yeah, so many people have told me that, but I still haven't changed it, hehe, ; yeah, I'm a sort of lazy person, hehe. But I'll change it when I go back and redo some of my story.

Sorry if I forgot anyone, my server wouldn't let me check to see who else reviewed. So I apologize for that.

Enjoy the chapter!!!!!!!!!! (And leave me a review!)

**The Amber Eyed Gladiator: Forbidden Games**

By: Sakuratenshi89

Chapter Eleven

_The Palace, Rome, Italy, 87 A.D._

Paul sat in the library, quietly debating whether he should or shouldn't check up on Sakura.

'_You should, she's your fiancé!_' his mind argued.

'_Well, she needs time to rest; I need to give her some space! I don't want to seem like the overprotective fiancé. She already has a brother who does that_,' Paul argued back.

But the little voice inside his head just wouldn't give up. '_You have every right to check up on her! YOU'RE HER FIANCE! Just make sure that she's okay, check up on her. Go see if her fever's gone down_.'

'_You're really beginning to bug me_,' growled Paul to the voice.

'_It's my job_.'

Paul rolled his eyes and got up; placing the book he had been "reading" down on the couch and left the room.

"Paul!"

Paul turned and saw Tomoyo and Eriol who both looked like they had just come from a wrestling match. He grimaced, he knew what they had been doing, and he wasn't about to ask, plus it really was none of his business. They were engaged anyway, so it wasn't wrong.

"Hi, I was just about to check up on Sakura."

Tomoyo exchanged a panicked glance with Eriol that Paul didn't notice (A/N: thank god, then it would ruin everything).

"Well, she's sleeping," Tomoyo said quickly.

"I just need to check up on her."

"She doesn't wish to be disturbed," said Eriol.

"Okay," Paul raised an eyebrow at the couple's strangeness. "Well, could you at least tell me if my fiancé is getting better?"

"Sure!" Tomoyo exclaimed cheerfully. "Her fever's gone down, so after a good night's rest, she'll be up and about."

"Thanks Tomoyo," Paul said and turned in the opposite direction of Sakura's room.

As soon as he left, Tomoyo and Eriol sighed in relief.

"Could you imagine what Paul would've done if he found out Sakura was gone?" Tomoyo asked fearfully.

"Yeah, he would've had our heads," muttered Eriol.

Tomoyo bonked her fiancé on the head. "No stupid, well…maybe, but I don't think he's that barbaric. Anyway, he would've sent out the entire Roman army to search for her. You know how taken he is with her! And even worse, he would probably kill anyone, especially men, who were with her. And Sakura would probably be disgraced because he would probably call the wedding off…she'd be ruined! And what about her family?! Touya would be furious and her father…"

"Tomoyo!" Eriol exclaimed to his rambling fiancé. "Calm down!"

A red faced Tomoyo turned to Eriol and began screaming, "Calm down?! How can you ask me to calm down? Are you nuts? You know what…"

"Breathe Tomoyo," Eriol instructed to an almost ready to burst from lack of oxygen Tomoyo. "Inhale…exhale…repeat…inhale…"

Tomoyo glared at the blue-black haired man. "I know how to breathe you moron!"

Eriol pouted, "I was just trying to help."

Tomoyo rolled her eyes. "Well, we better go find Sakura before her fiancé-dearest does go check up on her and finds out that she's gone."

"Well, what are we waiting for then?!"

_Augustus's Pasta House, Rome, Italy, 87 A.D._

"This is so good," Sakura sighed in blissful satisfaction. She had ordered a plate of chicken alfredo (A/N: my fav, hehe). "I could eat this every day for the rest of my life if I wanted to."

"It's not that good," Syaoran snorted as he finished off his plate of spaghetti.

Sakura glared at him, "Be quiet and let me enjoy my pasta."

"We've been here for god knows how long and you still haven't finished half of your plate," Syaoran pointed out. "I do believe that I've let you enjoyed your pasta long enough, thank you very much."

Sakura had been eating her pasta strand by strand, savoring the flavor and the taste of it in her mouth. Every time she took a bite she would make a comment on the flavor. Syaoran had been patiently (or not) waiting for her to finish up.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "You know that if you were a true gentlemen then you would just let me eat the way I want, you would let me eat at the pace I want."

"But I'm not a gentlemen, I'm a gladiator," Syaoran said.

"You're supposed to be a gentlemen in the presence of a princess," sniffed Sakura.

"Well forgive me, _your highness_," Syaoran said, rolling his eyes. "But I must point out that you look nothing and act nothing like a princess."

"WHY YOU!!!!" Sakura shrieked.

Syaoran winced; thank goodness they had gotten a private room for eating.

"I ought to have you…"

"Saku!!!!!!"

"What? Tomoyo, what are you doing here? And Eriol too!" Sakura gasped. "I thought you guys returned to the palace."

Standing before her and Syaoran were a very exhausted and sweaty looking couple.

"What did you guys do? Run marathons?" smirked Syaoran.

Eriol glared at him.

"Sorry Eriol, but the Olympics are in Greece, not Rome," Syaoran laughed. "Guess you're in the wrong place. Maybe you should go there and practice."

"For your information, we were here to get Sakura, my cute little descendant," Eriol smirked as Syaoran glared at him for using that nickname. "We had absolutely _no_ clue that you'd be with her."

"Sakura, you have to get back to the palace," panted Tomoyo, still trying to catch her breath. After all, royalty (especially the women) never did get much exercise; it wasn't proper for a woman to be fit (A/N: I'm just assuming this). Women weren't allowed to do what men did for fun.

"Why?" asked Sakura confused.

"You're not at the palace!"

"Uh…isn't that obvious?" Syaoran asked wryly.

Tomoyo glared at him.

"What's up with everyone glaring at me?"

"You might want to stop it with the smart comments," warned Eriol.

"You're not at the palace and Paul is," Tomoyo began.

"Oh my god! I'm not at the palace!!!!!" screamed Sakura as the realization dawned on her.

"I thought we already established the fact that she isn't at the palace," Syaoran said. "No need repeating it fifty times."

"No, you don't get it, I'm not at the palace," Sakura explained.

"Yes I do, I know that you're not at the…"

"No you don't, if I'm not at the palace and my fiancé finds out, I'll be in so much trouble."

"No you won't, he loves you right?" asked Syaoran.

Sakura turned bright red. "Um…I-I-I d…"

"Well he shouldn't get mad at you just because you're not there," said Syaoran.

"But if he finds out I've been with other people when I'm supposedly supposed to be in bed lying there, sick, then…"

"Well, what the hell are we all waiting for?!" Eriol interrupted. "We need to get you back to your room and fast. We don't have any time to lose."

"I totally forgot to use the Mirror," Sakura said miserably, not even really noticing what she was saying.

"Sakura!" Tomoyo gasped.

Sakura clamped her hand over her mouth.

Syaoran stared at Sakura, wide-eyed.

Eriol just smiled and snapped his fingers, "That's it, Sakura use Fly!"

Sakura gaped at Eriol, "How'd y-y-you…"

"I'm the reincarnation of Clow Reed, that's why I call Syaoran my cute little descendant, but there's really no time to explain, hurry."

"I know I've met you somewhere before!" Sakura exclaimed, then she began babbling, "Well, not really met, but I've felt you around before, you're the one who made me change all the Clow Cards into the Sakura Cards!"

"Yes that was me, Sakura, use Fly, you need to get back to the palace, Paul will be checking up on you any second now!"

"Oh yeah," Sakura said before closing her eyes and summoning her wand. "I call upon the forces of my star, ancient forces near and far, release!" The charm hanging about her neck had extended into a wand (A/N: I don't know if that's the real chant, if any one of you readers out there know, please send me a review).

"Remember, act sick!" Tomoyo called as sakura summoned the Fly and began lifting off the ground.

"I will!" Sakura waved and was off.

"Won't she be seen?" asked Tomoyo worriedly.

"She knows how to hide herself from being seen," Eriol said reassuringly.

Syaoran still stood there, gaping.

"Uh…are you okay there Syaoran?" asked Tomoyo.

"I can't believe it, she's…she's the…"

"Card Mistress," Eriol said calmly. "You'd better believe it."

"When?"

"Ever since she was ten," Tomoyo said proudly. "Other than her Dad, Touya, and me, Eriol and you are the only ones who know about this."

"Too much to take in," mumbled Syaoran as he walked out of the room and out of the restaurant.

"Well…that went nicely," commented Eriol casually.

Tomoyo rolled her eyes, "Yeah, sure it did, he's probably scared of her now."

"He won't be, he'll accept it," Eriol said. "He was supposed to go look for the Clow Cards when he was young, but his father's death prevented him from going. He had to stay at home and learn the duties of a king at the age of twelve instead of at the age of sixteen."

"Wait a second…duties of a king?!"

Eriol paled visibly. "Uh…did I say that? I meant…"

"You're saying that Syaoran Li is Li Xiao Lang, the next ruler of CHINA????" shrieked Tomoyo.

"Heh…um…yes?"

"Why didn't you say this before?"

"What difference would it make?"

"Let me see…everything!" Tomoyo said sarcastically.

"How?" (A/N: can't you just see the question marks floating around Eriol's head? Hehe.)

"Well then Syaoran won't be a gladiator anymore and they can elope together. Don't they just make the cutest couple?" Tomoyo sighed with stars in her eyes. "Oh, the drama."

"You can't tell anyone, he doesn't want anyone to know."

"Why wouldn't he want anyone to know? He would be set free from all this crap if everyone knew he was the heir to the throne of China."

"Well…he sort of wanted to leave China," Eriol said uncomfortably.

"WHY?"

"Because he felt he had to accomplish something before he got settled down and married and took his place as the king of China. You know, he's trying to find himself, this is his journey," Eriol explained.

Tomoyo made a face, "What's with all these people making journeys?"

Eriol laughed then became sober; "Syaoran has a reason for his. He is the most powerful sorcerer in the world; he could destroy the world if he wished just with a flick of his fingers. He has the ultimate power. The Li Elders knew that he would be the one, for when he was born, he had an incredible aura. So they trained him ever since he was able to walk how to control his powers. He is able to contain them and just seem like a normal person. He can even hide his aura from other people with magic. There's also another part of the journey that I think was only mentioned once to him, but I'm pretty sure he is well aware of it. His powers aren't fully controlled, not emotionally, physically yes, but if someone angers him terribly, his powers could destroy that one person easily. If something has made him miserable, he could flood the entire earth. This is probably the most important part of the journey; he must find the one person who will be able to help him control his emotions, his counterpart, his soul mate."

Tomoyo remained quiet, "So, he's not only here to find himself but also to find his soul mate?"

"Yes, Syaoran also sees this as a sort of physical training and a challenge, like an obstacle he must defeat to become the king of China."

"Well, what makes Syaoran so sure that his soul mate is in Rome?"

"Well there was this prophecy: _The most powerful sorcerer on this earth shall destroy himself unless he finds the one who is his match; she will be his equal in power. Together they will face of a battle of life or death and shall come out even_," Eriol said.

"So he just assumed that this battle of life or death is the gladiatorial games in Rome?"

Eriol shrugged, "Don't ask me how my descendant's mind works. He's a smart kid, he knows what he's doing."

"I sure hope so," Tomoyo said, concerned. "One wrong move in those games can cause a man his life."

"Excuse me!"

Tomoyo and Eriol turned toward the voice coming from the room of the door. They saw a nervous looking waiter standing there.

"Yes?" asked Tomoyo kindly.

"I was asked to check upon you to see if you were done with your meal," the waiter said quietly.

"Uh…meal?" Tomoyo muttered in a low voice to Eriol, so only he could hear.

"I think that he's talking about Sakura and Syaoran's lunch."

"Oh no, they didn't pay did they? Great, figures," mumbled Tomoyo. "I get to pay for the meal that I didn't eat."

"Yes we're done," Eriol said after a moment's silence. He cleared his throat. "We're ready to pay now."

"Sakura wait until I get my hands on you!" Tomoyo said to herself.

_The Palace, Rome, Italy, 87 A.D._

Sakura's wand shrank back into its charm-like state and her wings disappeared. She looked around her room before sighing in relief, she was safe. Apparently Paul hadn't checked up on her yet. She quickly changed back into her sleepwear and got into the bed not a minute to soon.

The door opened and Paul's blond head appeared.

"Sakura?"

"Yeah?" asked Sakura, faking a yawn.

"I'm sorry, was I disturbing you?" asked Paul nervously wondering if Tomoyo and her fiancé were right about Sakura not wanted to be disturbed.

"No I'm fine, actually I'm great," Sakura said happily, thinking of the meal she just had with a certain handsome gladiator.

"So, you're doing better then?"

"Yeah, tons, thanks Paul."

"No problem," Paul sighed in relief that she wasn't angry with him for disturbing her rest. "Would you like to join me for dinner tonight in the dining hall?"

"Who's going to be there?" asked Sakura.

"Not a lot of people," said Paul, thinking. "You'll meet my parents officially, I suppose they'll be wanting to discuss the ball that's coming up, and you know guests, and food and what not. I'm also guessing that Tomoyo and Eriol will be there and maybe a few other people, but that's really not important. So, will you go?"

"Sure," Sakura shrugged and smiled. "Besides, I've been looking forward to meeting your parents."

"As they have been looking forward to meeting you," Paul grinned.

Sakura smiled nervously.

Paul leaned forward and kissed her gently. "You'll be fine, they'll love you."

"If you say so," said Sakura.

Paul kissed her again, calming all of Sakura's nerves, then he leaned his forehead against hers and smiled, "I know so."

A/N: Yeah, I know this took me forever to get out, but I've been so busy with schoolwork and my extracurricular (big word!) activities. I hope that I'll get the next one done soon, but I probably won't, so I won't try and promise ya'll anything, cause I know I probably won't be able to keep my promise. Actually I know I won't be able to keep it. Sorry you guys! But please review!! I love all kinds of input! So please review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much for being so patient!!!


	12. Chapter 12

* * *

I'M SOOOOOOOO SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I KNOW I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN LIKE TWO MONTHS!!!!! But I have a good excuse, school started and things were really hectic for me, I had to get used to my schedule and the homework load teachers were giving me. It takes a while you know. And I tried to write my story whenever I could, I would write like a bit at a time...but I actually have a break coming up so I think I'll be able to update chapter 13 pretty quickly...I hope...but I have to start writing it first...hehe ;

**Personal Notes to Readers!!!!**:

**Lil Mari**: I'm sorry about the scare, hehe, I was just fooling around. No, I don't think Meiling will be in this story...not yet...I haven't planned the story that far ahead yet. I'm just taking things slowly...very slowly

**Ayumi-dono**: I'm sorry all my chapters take so long, it's just that with school and everything, I've been awfully busy. I'm trying my best though. Then there's also writer's block...ahh!!!! I hate it so much...and yes, S/S will DEFINITELY happen, that's why my story is under S/S and why it's called "Forbidden Games"

**Lil Cherry Blossom Angel**: Yay!!!! Another update!!!! Haha, :-)

**Avelyn Lauren**: Yup, it's gonna get very, very interesting, wink, maybe not, depends on your taste. Hope you keep on reviewing!!!

**Sunnflower**: Haha, yea, I like to give my readers some background information and tell them that my story is really different that what actually happened. It's an AU I guess, some of its fact, but most of its fiction.

**SS43V3r**: Thank you!!! I try and make my endings an ending...does that make any sense????? Haha, I probably don't make much sense, never did, never will.

**Cherry Princess Sakura**: I didn't plan on having magic in my story actually, but then I added it in like the first few chapters, so now I can't just be like, well there's no more magic. I don't wanna go back and change all my chapters...too lazy, hehe. Yea, something big will definitely happen soon...I think...not quite there yet...but remember, there's that ball held in Sakura's honor and Syaoran's invited.

**2swtstarz1**: Thanks blush, I try.

**Heheangel kisses**: Thank you! Yeah, I try and make the plot deeper than just they fall in love and stuff like that, and adding their magic helps too, because it makes the story more interesting and the plot thickens! dun, dun, dun haha.

Melon-heart: I'm sorry about updating so late, it takes time to write, especially for me. That's true, I've probably waited two years for updates on some stories and they still don't come, makes me wonder what happened to the story. They should at least find someone who will continue the story for them...I don't think they had chicken alfredo back then...but let's pretend they did, :-) 

**Dreamschemer**: I know I'm romanticizing gladiators, but that's half the fun when writing a story!!!!! Actually gladiators did have a sort of status, not all of them were slaves, some of them were Roman citizens who decided to give up their freedom to become a gladiator. And if you were popular with the people, you were popular both in the arena and outside of it. Yeah, anyway like I said, writing doesn't have to be based truly on facts, you can twist anything to fit your story as long as it sounds somewhat believable, I mean, you've probably read stories with flying unicorns or what about mermaids??? Anyway...I'm rambling. Thanks for the information though, but I know most of that stuff already...I take Latin...trust me, I hear enough of that every single day.

**Final Fantasy Princess**: Chicken Alfredo rocks!!!!!!!!!! It's sooooooooooo good; I could eat it practically every single day. Pasta is the bomb! The only kind I really don't like is the seafood one and the vegetarian one. The plot will keep on thickening!!! (I hope)

**AnimeObsessionFantasy**: Not likely, but I'll try, I tend to drag things out if you haven't noticed...hehe...it gets on people's nerves, I know.

**Fanatic**: Thank you soooo much!!!!!!! Arigato! Gracias! Xie Xie (Chinese)! Grazie (Italian???)!!!! Merci!!! (and I don't know it in Latin...)

**Sakura.cherryblossom.kinomoto**: I'm definitely gonna add more Sakura and Syaoran scenes later on...but for now...I don't know...but it's definitely gonna be SS

**Piccoleia Star**: Thanks! :-)

**Gabzilla**: Don't worry, I'm weird too, hahaha! And I'm still waiting for your picture!!!! Hehe. I really wanna see it though, I'm really upset because in the CCS manga, they don't change Syaoran very much, sure he's taller and thinner somewhat, but I wanna see a really older him, more muscular too (not too big though, you know what I mean). There's that new manga with CCS characters though, I think it's called Tsubasa, but I'm not sure...I hope they make Syaoran look at least a little older...

**Dreamer**: haha, well here's more!!!! And there's gonna be more coming, but not now...I don't know when I'm going to update again...I still need to start writing...

**Little Girl**: Thank you! And yeah, I know all this stuff, I know that there really wasn't a Trojan War where they fought for Helen, but there was a Troy, and I think there was some type of war, but it wasn't like that in the legends. Yeah, yeah, my story is just using Rome and it's gladiator thing...hehe. I'm sorry...I'll have to change that, but I'm really busy right now...and I don't have time to do that...I've been writing the story like in my spare time (which isn't very often, which is why I haven't updated in forever), but I'll fix it one day...thanks though.

**Mycherrywolf**: Yeah, my chapters are kinda slow and not a lot of action happens, the next one probably will have more action...I hope...and I'll try and update as quickly as possible

**Perfectangel12**: Thank you! I'm glad this is one of your favorite stories!! It's my favorite one...my other stories stunk...well I come up with some ideas but then I can't put it down on paper very well...

**Rapture-Taylore**: No problem, I'm just glad you reviewed!! It's just nice knowing that some people took the time to actually write something...haha.

**Lil-asian-gurl**: She will EVENTUALLY end up with Syaoran...you'll just have to be patient...and I know personally as a reader that I get so fed up waiting. But it takes a LOT of time coming up with a good chapter (or what I think is a good chapter) to post on. I haven't really thought about Sakura and Paul's wedding date...hmm...I'll probably add that in my next chapter, or in the chapter with Sakura's ball (the one held in her honor, same thing).

AND HERE'S CHAPTER 12!!!!! YAY!!!!!! FINALLY!!!!!!

**The Amber Eyed Gladiator: Forbidden Games**

By: Sakuratenshi89

Chapter Twelve

_The Palace, Rome, Italy, 87 A.D._

Sakura looked at her self in the mirror nervously. She was shaking visibly; not at all feeling as good as she looked. She had been given a beautiful silk kimono from her father just before she had left and she had finally decided to wear it. Her father of course had made sure that the kimono fit her perfectly and accentuated her features nicely. It was long and trailed in the back. She rolled her sleeves up as to not let them get in her way. A beautiful jeweled cherry blossom pin held one side of her hair back from her face. On her wrist hung a simple gold bracelet given to her by her brother on her sixteenth birthday.

"Why is this so hard?" Sakura muttered to herself. "I'm just meeting his parents. It's not like...well...they are the rulers of the Roman Empire and I have every right to be afraid...I mean...what if they..."

"They'll love you," came Paul's amused voice from the doorway. "You're worrying over nothing." He was dressed rather simply for royalty. He had on a plain white toga, which was made, of course, with the finest material imported from China. Around his neck was a medal, the crest that had been carried in his family for years, the crest that let the world know he was royalty. It was emblem of the Roman emperors. He walked up to her and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, making her blush.

Sakura shook her head, "You'd be like this if you were meeting with the most powerful people in Europe. You can't say that I'm worrying over nothing." She stepped back from him unconsciously.

"Yes I can, I know my _parents_," Paul emphasized the word. "And like I said a million times, they'll love you. They're my parents, not the emperor and empress of Rome. They're not the most powerful people in Europe. They're my parents. If you think about it that way, you'll be fine. You'll survive."

She glanced at him dubiously before sighing, "I'm ready, let's go."

"Good," Paul said smiling. "You'll enjoy yourself. They've been looking forward to this for a long time, I'll protect you if anything happens." He held out his arm for her to take, she took it willingly and braced herself for what was to come.

Sakura smiled, '_Be strong._'

* * *

_The Dining Hall, The Palace, Rome, Italy, 87 A.D._

The dining hall was long and rectangular and rather empty. It was a room made of marble with a high ceiling and candleholders on every wall as to give off light. In the room was a long table, which could fit about fifty or so people give or take. It was made of the best material money could buy in Rome.

Domitianus sat with his wife Aurelia in the dining room. He was sitting at the head of the table as usual and Aurelia was to his left.

"Have you met this girl yet?" asked Aurelia worriedly as they waited for their son and his fiancé. Her blue eyes were darting to the doorway every few seconds, and it was getting on her husband's nerves. She looked like one of those royalty who are scared that someone will come in at any second and murder everyone in their sight, that's how paranoid she looked, and ridiculous. (A/N: it's like girls when they like guys and are waiting for them to come into the classroom or room or whatever, and they look to the doors every ten seconds. Well...guys do that too, it's really funny, but it also gets on my nerves soooo much!!!!!! They should at least try and hide it, or not look there every two or ten seconds, they should make it less obvious).

"I've seen her and I've met her family. They were pleasant and very warm. You'll love her; she's everything you could ever ask for in a daughter-in-law. She's a rare one. We're lucky she agreed to this marriage," Domitianus said.

Aurelia smoothed her blond hair. "Well I hope so, here they come..."

Paul and Sakura's footsteps could be heard echoing down the hall. Soon after, the dining hall doors were opened and they stepped in.

"You're right, she is stunning," Aurelia whispered to Domitianus, making him smile.

"Father, Mother," Paul said cordially as he and Sakura walked up to the table. "This is Sakura."

"Welcome to the family dear," Aurelia said warmly.

"Thank you," Sakura said blushing shyly.

"I hope Paul has been a good host and fiancé," Domitianus said grinning. "He can get a bit lazy and rather hard to handle sometimes. When he was young, he was the most spoiled little kid I've ever seen..."

"Father," whined Paul. Sakura laughed.

Domitianus grinned even wider, "Just kidding son."

"Do sit down," Aurelia said, gesturing to the two empty seats in front of her.

Paul held out the chair for Sakura, making her smile.

"Thank you," she said.

"No problem," Paul replied, pulling out his own chair to the right of his father.

"While we're waiting for food, I should tell you more stories about Paul here," Domitianus said, making Paul turn a fire engine red. "There are a few things that you should know about him, they might come in handy later in the marriage. Are you ready Sakura?"

"Sure!" Sakura said smiling at her future father-in-law.

Paul groaned, "Oh no..."

Aurelia stifled a smirk, "You knew that this was coming Paul, your father just can't wait to get back at you. He just loves embarrassing you, you know."

"Well of course I do, as a father, it is my job!" Domitianus said, "Well, here goes, when Paul was twelve..."

And so the dinner continued on like this for the rest of the night, Domitianus informing Sakura of Paul's amusing and rather embarrassing past, Aurelia filling in on some parts, Sakura laughing so hard she almost choked on her water, Paul's face, never turning back to its original color (it stayed tomato red for about two hours after too).

* * *

_Li Palace, China, 87 A.D._

Li Feimei sighed and stared out the window forlornly. It had been two years since Xiao Lang had been captured. She stared once again at the paper in her hands. She had just received it yesterday from Rome, Italy, where Xiao Lang had been taken to from Japan.

_Dear Feimei, _

_I am no longer in Japan; I have been in Rome for a week already. I was chosen by the emperor of Rome's son to come to Italy. I suppose I was a sort of gift, as were others. I was then brought to Rome with the others where I was then sold at an auction. Don't worry about me, I am in good hands, you might know him, or Mother might. His name is Gaius Augustus and he runs the Gladiatorial Institute of Rome. _

_You must have figured out by now that I'm a gladiator _(Feimei shook her head and laughed a little at this, she could just picture her younger brother saying this with the usual sarcasm in his voice). _It was not my choice, though I think that I'd rather be a gladiator than anything else right now. I don't mind, having grown up fighting all my life. My first real fight will take place soon; wish me luck, because I might not come out of it alive, if the people don't like me. It all depends on their choice; my life is in their hands._

_Do not tell anyone of this, I would not want them to worry, you're the only one I can trust in our family. Fanren will only worry and Mama doesn't need to know. You're the only one who understands that this is for the best. _

_One day when I win my freedom, I will come back to China. Until then, I am content living the life of a gladiator in Rome. _

_Your brother, _

_Li Xiao Lang_

Feimei smiled and closed the letter; it was so like her younger brother to not want others to worry. She knew he could take care of himself, but she couldn't help but worry. She knew all about the gladiator games, it was live or die, sometimes the people were merciful and let the gladiator keep his life, but it was rare. Only when the people really loved the gladiator would they show mercy.

China had been in ruins ever since the kingdom had discovered their future king gone. It was in a state of chaos; even her normally composed and collected mother had given up. The Elders, stubborn as they were, tried to get the kingdom back into order, but it was useless. Their hope was gone, the faith they had disappeared. There was nothing to look forward too, their lives were ruined, and there was no hope for the future. All their good work had gone to waste.

She smiled rather cynically, how ironic, the Elders were giving up, they had trained and molded Xiao Lang to what they thought was perfection, he did everything they asked. Yet he was the one to rebel and he was the one who ruined them. She knew Xiao Lang never liked the old men, she just never understood why he obeyed them...maybe he had known that one day he would bring them to their knees and they would fall, never to rise to power again. She wished Xiao Lang were here, he would have known what to do. He was the only one who could bring China back to its original state. Without him, China would most likely forever remain in the state of chaos. No leader to guide them, no future to look forward to...there was nothing.

* * *

_The Colosseum, Rome, Italy, 87 A.D._

Sakura was led up the stairs to the royalty box by Paul, she was rather nervous about the whole thing, this being the first time she had ever seen the gladiatorial games.

"It'll be fine, I promise," Paul comforted her. "If you hate it, then I won't make you come back ever again."

Sakura agreed. It wasn't the fighting; it was just the killing and stabbing that got to her.

"We better hurry, I think my dad is about to give the signal," Paul said, lightly pulling Sakura up with him.

"What signal?"

"The signal to let the gladiators out from behind those bars, they wait there for the signal. If you go through one of those tunnels, you will reach the place where they shower and get dressed. It's actually very interesting, the architecture and design of this building is fabulous. I'll take you on a tour some time," said Paul, smiling.

"Let me guess, you've probably been in there at least a couple of hundred times," Sakura said.

"Yeah, maybe more," Paul said sheepishly.

Sakura laughed.

* * *

_The Colosseum, Rome, Italy, 87 A.D._

Syaoran looked at himself in the rather dim mirror. His scooped up water and splashed it on his face, he was nervous. He sat on the bench next to the mirror and ran his hands through his hair. Who knew that this would be so hard? It was harder than anything he had done, even leaving China. He was going to fight for his life today.

He set his jaw tightly; he was determined to win though. He would not let some amateur fighter kill him in the battle, he had to win. There was so much in his life that was not accomplished. He had so much to look forward to. He would eventually gain his right to freedom, but he first had to get past the preliminaries. Life was a game and he knew how to play it well, he knew its tricks and he knew how to get around them. He was the master, he would win this game.

A shout was heard through the dark halls of the Colosseum, he was calling the gladiators, it was now time.

Syaoran took a hold of his sword, which was freshly sharpened and his shield and prepared himself, stepping into the tunnel that would lead him into the arena. He stepped outside into the large arena, the arena that had been stained with blood years before he had ever been born. On this ground, many had fought, many had died; few had conquered. He _would_ conquer, he would.

* * *

_The Colosseum, Rome, Italy, 87 A.D._

Everyone knew the rules to the games. Those who lost, lost, they were dead to the world. They were no more. Those who were victorious were richly rewarded and after a period of service, could even win the wooden sword of freedom no matter their status. Their fate rested in the spectators, if the crowd favored him, they would wave their handkerchiefs and the emperor would then signal for his release. Otherwise, if the gladiator had not won favor and the crowd showed that he was not favored, the fallen man would be killed speedily.

Syaoran himself was a murmillo, a fish man, who wore a helmet with a fish emblem on it. He was armed with a sword and large shield that he had practiced with.

The gladiators gathered in front of the royal box, where the royals were seated.

"Ave, imperator, morituri te salutant. (Hail, emperor, those about to die salute you!)" Chanted the group of gladiators, about to fight for their lives.

The emperor nodded his head slightly.

The trumpet-players and horn-players blew loudly.

A man stepped forward and held out a scroll, "Will the first two contestants please step into the center of the field please."

Automatically the rest of the players stepped onto the sides of the field, leaving the two first contestants to the battle of their lives.

The people began cheering, aware that the game had not yet begun, but excited, adrenaline rushed through the air, everyone could feel it. This was going to be a good game, the first game in months, for the gladiators had been training, but now it was time to show their skill and the people could not contain their excitement.

Syaoran took no notice of the crowd of tens of thousands of people, for he knew it would be a distraction. He needed his concentration if he wished to win. He needed to focus, it was just him and his opponent, it was life or death.

A horn sounded, long and clear, the signal to begin had been given.

Syaoran's eyes narrowed at his opponent, the games have begun...

* * *

A/N: Yea, I know this chapter is kinda short, but it's 2,000 words long, which is about my average. And I couldn't really elaborate anymore and I didn't want to add anymore meaningless conversations...though probably my whole entire story is based on them.

I just wanna clear this up once and for all: MY STORY IS NOT TRULY BASED ON ROMAN GLADIATORS BACK IN THE TIME OF ANCIENT Rome. MY STORY IS PURELY FICTIONAL AND MAY HAVE SOME FACTS (VERY LITTLE), BUT IT IS NOT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY AS IN ALL THE FACTS HAVE TO BE STRAIGHT...IT'S PURE FICTION!! THAT'S THE ENTIRE POINT OF FICTION! Yeah, and all ya'll out there who corrected me, I don't mind, seriously, but I just wanted to clear that up with all you guys out there, I know they didn't have restaurants or chicken alfredo back then. I know all that, I'm in Latin and I'm studying World History...so yeah, but I really appreciate you taking the time to tell me all of it...I just wanted to clear up any misunderstanding.

KEEP REVIEWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	13. Chapter 13

Hey it's me!!!!!! I'm soo happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I finished this chapter in one week!!!!!!! That like, has got to be a record!!!!!!!! (well for me anyway), I'm just sooooo proud of myself, haha.

**ATTENTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!** HAVE BEEN DOING SOME ARTWORK LATELY (IT'S NOT THE BEST…BUT I TRIED) OF MY STORY AND CCS STUFF, THEN YOU CAN COME TO MY WEB PAGE 

To hear from me and see my artwork, you can subscribe to my web page it's on my profile, I'll be informing all of you guys on my updates and stuff like that. And you can write comments to me and other people who read my story.

Sakura and Paul will NOT get together, I mean…they will NOT marry. Just to let you all know so that you don't start worrying too much over that issue. Sakura and Syaoran WILL get together eventually but I have to have other things happen before SS can happen, so PLEASE bear with me, I know personally from being a reader that it's really hard to be patient, especially if you like the story a lot, but as a reader, I'm going to have to ask you all to be patient, cause I have school and other stuff I have to do. But I'm trying, I got this chapter out pretty quickly, and I'm working on chapter 14 right now…and it'll contain more SS action in it, I promise…maybe I'll even have them do something.

Remember, SS will get together, the Forbidden Games part of my title implies that something forbidden (ex: Sakura gets together with a slave, a.k.a. Syaoran…) I'm just reassuring you guys so you don't freak, haha.

* * *

**Personal Notes to Reviewers**: 

**Lily Cherry Blossom Angel**: Thank you!!! I know, I hadn't updated in a while, but this chapter should make up for it

**Heheangel kisses**: Yeah, Sakura knows Syaoran is there, I'm sorry, I know that cliffhangers are evil. I read enough stories with tons of cliffhangers and those movies where you don't feel satisfied are really annoying too. Fighting is exciting isn't it?! The other chapters have just been sort of fillers, I guess

**Final Fantasy Princess**: I know!!!!! Pasta rules!!!!!! Haha, don't worry; I love it when my readers are happy and excited. Thanks, I did think it was sort of a climax too, and I kinda left it at a cliffhanger. Thanks for the encouragement

**SS43v3r**: Haha, I know, my story is a little bit off…I've never been a person for stories that are perfectly historically accurate. Those are rather boring to me.

**Odango Amata-chan**: I know!!!! I'll have more SS action in the next chapter, I hope. I'm still trying to make Syaoran harder (colder and stuff), like more player-ish, if you get what I'm saying. As the writer, I'm still learning my characters myself. I'm playing around a bit I guess right now, and I have to figure out how to get Sakura and Syaoran together. I know!!! I can't stand it when the hero is just "okay looking" and "not really handsome, but he stands out", I have to have him stand out a lot (I mean, HOT!!!!!!) haha

**Scarletskies**: I'm not going to tell you if he gets hurt or not…you can read my story to find out!!!

**Cookiekrumble**: Yeah, they really didn't have pasta, they ate dormice, and pigs, and olives, and stuff like that, but I just HAD to add pasta in there (cause it's my favorite!!!)

**Avelyn Lauren**: Sakura is softhearted, but she won't deprive the people of their entertainment (it's not her country). I don't even know if this is what you were talking about…hehe, I have short term memory (I have to read the whole story over every time I start a new chapter…it sucks…cause I forget all the tiny details that come back to haunt me later)

**Dreamschemer**: Yup, I'm a Latin geek!! I thought Latin was pretty cool, and since I can't roll my 'r' and all that stuff, I decided Spanish and Italian wouldn't be the language for me. And Latin is pretty much like English…well…sorta…so I sort of figured I should just take it, I'm sorry if my story does go off the truth (I can't really help it, I just love myths and fantasy and all that kinda crap, and I just LOVE pasta!!! Haha)

**Lil-asian-gurl**: I won't let Syaoran die; honestly who do you think I am? Haha, he's my favorite hero!!!!!! I'll never let him die!!!! At least, not until he and Sakura get together. I know, nobody's comfortable with Sakura being with Paul, but I've already told all you guys that this is a Syaoran and Sakura story, Paul is just a guy…he's a fill in character…he's in the story too thicken the plot…I think…haha

**Dreamer**: Well…here it is!!!!!!

**Melon-heart**: Thank you, you should be really happy with this chapter then since you're looking forward to the fight!!!!

**Katana-hime**: Yeah, it is how you say it, I looked it up, it does sound pretty cool doesn't it. I sort of made gladiators like the movie stars of today, except they actually fight and kill each other…hehe…and they're slaves…or Romans who gave up their citizenship to fight and stuff like that. But I really like gladiators too!!

**White-LK**: I know…even though we all know who the winner is going to be…obviously…everyone loves seeing Syaoran fighting (especially with his shirt off…six pack!!! And all those muscles!!!! Haha)

**MewMewPower389**: I'm still deciding on the SS part…on how they're going to get together. It's going to take me a while…but I promise some action between the two

**Chai**: Blush thanks; I know what you mean by "weird" fics. I usually like the ones that are longer, like the one by KayJuli, The Power of Two Hearts, I love that fic. It's the best. I don't really like short fics, even though mine would probably be classified as one, haha. Yeah, it always seems that way…but guys are strong!!!! That's why is stereotypically the guy who suffers in these types of novels, even though there are some girls who suffer too. Paul is just a character to thicken the plot, I can't tell you too much about him (even though you can probably already figure things out)

**AnimeObsessionFantasy**: Yup, even though everyone knows who the winner will be…

**Lil Mari**: Haha, I did dance when I updated (jk), I was sooo happy, cause it had been what, two months since my last update?? Well no more!!! Here's my other chapter in less than two weeks!!!

**Amano-Hikari LJ**: Yay!!!! New reader!!!!!!!! Haha, I'm sorry if my story kept you up, I didn't think it'd be that good, there are stories that I can read over and over again and never tire of them. Yeah, it is rather annoying but I PROMISE that Paul will leave…sometime…you have to admit though, most authors use "the other guy" in their stories…

**Sakura.cherryblossom.kinomoto**: They've met, but not for a very long time…they had lunch together remember?

**MzJae**: I hope this is soon enough (I'm starting on the next chapter…I think I'm halfway there…) I'm trying to go faster without leaving parts out, I want my chapters to be longer too…so it takes me a while…but I actually finished chapter 13 pretty quickly, which totally surprised me

**Charice**: Haha, thanks, I tried to make it different, it's really hard though, especially when my imagination is so limited. Actually I thought my story is sort of predictable…but then again, I'm the author…so maybe it's just me…hehe

**Synchrogirl**: I'm sorry if I sounded like facts aren't important, I know they are…but I only think they are important in stuff like papers and all that crap (I suck at facts, I can never get them straight…that's probably why my story has hardly any fact in it). Yeah, from Japan, they had to go south and around Africa, so it's a pretty long journey once you think about it, they had to go all the way around Africa and into the Mediterranean, which takes a pretty long time, considering the time period they are living in. In the Odyssey, it took Odysseus 20 years to get form Troy back to Greece, was it? But then again, he had obstacles…so, I didn't think it would be accurate to say they got to Rome in about three months or seven…so I decided on a year and a half. But I'm still happy that you like my story

**Mecha-Griever**: Haha, yeah it is my "baby", it's the first story that a lot of people have actually like (I don't know about the other ones, not a lot of people reviewed, so I'm assuming they didn't). I still like comments though; it helps let me know what I can improve on (keeping it factual is the most common advice I've gotten so far). Nobody likes Paul, haha, I'm so sorry, I didn't want everyone to hate him…but I don't really like him that much either…

**JB**: Yeah, but too many clichés do get old…that one was my favorite too, I try to make it into an ending/cliffhanger at the same time…well maybe not really a cliffhanger, but something that makes the reader what to read the next chapter

**Akai-Akegata**: Yeah, I took Japanese once, and I still had a dictionary, so I was like "Why not use some Japanese in here?" but then after the first sentence, I got so confused and was like, "This is soooo hard!" so I decided to do the rest in English (I'm talking about Sakura's letter to Touya, if you don't know). I'm Chinese, and since Japanese is so much like Chinese, I got confused and decided I should take another language…which led me to Latin. Thanks for the comments!

**Cherry Princess Sakura**: Really? That's awesome!! (about the phrase) Yeah, I had a short little chapter on gladiators in my Latin book, so I looked in there

**Carlacuata**: Thank you!!! Wow, I didn't think that my story would be that good to have you read all 12 chapters in one day, hehe. Can't tell you what's going to happen to Syaoran (it's a secret and if I did tell you then you wouldn't read my story anymore). And no Paul and Sakura are not going to get a lovey dovey and stuff like that, they're just gonna become…close. And no, Syaoran will not die (he can't die, I love him too much!!!!!, hehe)

* * *

**The Amber Eyed Gladiator: Forbidden Games**

By: Sakuratenshi89

Chapter Thirteen

_The Colosseum, Rome, Italy, 87 A.D._

Syaoran's eyes were narrowed, focusing on his opponent. He stared at his opponent warily, measuring him up in his mind. He was around five foot ten and compared to his own six foot two, he (Syaoran) had the advantage. And he wouldn't say that his opponent had an advantage from being "small". Though he was a bit shorter, his opponent was by no means "short" on muscle. The man was powerfully built, muscles rippled throughout his body, bulging with just one small move. He had a rather thick neck and powerful looking arms; Syaoran guessed the man could crush his neck with one clamp of that arm.

One look at that man and Syaoran was painfully aware of his lean body. It wasn't that he had no muscles, he was very built, and of that he was aware. It was just that he wasn't as built as the man (A/N: which is really good, cause I hate men who look like Arnold S—whatever his last name is); he just was not as big as him. He was somewhat glad of that too, because it meant he also had the advantage speed wise. Since the man was so built, he was also bulkier, which made him heavier than Syaoran. Therefore, Syaoran was much lighter and speedier than his opponent.

"I will win," growled the man after Syaoran finished his assessment.

"Over my dead body," Syaoran hissed, fully aware of the irony of his statement.

The man smiled nastily, he was not known as The Beast for nothing, "Well then, prepare to die, cause you aren't leaving this arena alive."

Syaoran just smirked and he circled his opponent.

The Beast (A/N: I'm gonna call him that from now on) narrowed his beady eyes at Syaoran. He was not known for his patience. Syaoran had been circling him slowly for quite some time now.

"Kill him, kill him!" the crowd chanted.

* * *

Sakura watched with bated breath, that was Syaoran Li out there! She hadn't recognized him at first with his armor on, but she recognized those eyes of his. They had haunted her day and night ever since the day she met him. Not once had they left her memory, his intense, burning amber eyes were forever engraved in her memory and she would never forget them. 

"I do believe The Beast and the people are getting rather impatient," Paul murmured, his eyes never straying from the fight.

"How long will this take?" asked Sakura.

"As long as they need," Paul said. "Or as long as the people will give them, but I do believe that The Beast is favored by the people, so this match could take a while. The people look forward to seeing his matches."

Sakura grimaced, she could not stand to watch this, but she felt she had to. She wanted to see. She needed to see what would become of the amber-eyed gladiator. Her eyes were once again focused on Syaoran. She gasped when The Beast, having finally used up all his patience, charged at him, not wanting to wait any longer. He was so fast and he had done that out of nowhere. Her eyes widened when Syaoran quickly moved to the side and The Beast, having charged too quickly, was not able to stop in time to change course.

"That was brilliant," Paul said, commenting on Syaoran's fast, last move. The Beast had slowed down and his face was bright red as he turned around to face Syaoran.

"He's angry," Sakura said worriedly.

"Yes, he is, he doesn't like it when others outsmart him."

"You seem to know him well," Sakura said.

"He's been performing in the arena for at least three years," said Paul. "So I've known him for quite some time, I know all his moves, other gladiators do too, but they're so intimidated by his presence, they forget all that they all end up losing to him."

"Do you think that Sy-the other gladiator will win?" asked Sakura, praying that Paul would not notice her slip-up.

"He might," Paul replied absently.

Sakura sighed, he hadn't noticed. She also was glad that Syaoran might have a chance to win. She hoped he would win.

"But I highly doubt it."

Sakura's eyes widened as The Beast struck out at Syaoran, she held her breath and let it back out quickly, for Syaoran had deflected his blow with ease. She didn't need to worry; Syaoran could take care of himself. She knew he could, he had been practicing for the past few weeks, he was prepared, she hoped.

* * *

Syaoran blocked blow after blow. He could tell that The Beast was growing tired, as his blows came slower and were less accurate. This was his tactic, be on the defense until his opponent grows tired, then go on offense. He smirked at The Beast, signaling him to keep on delivering the strikes, succeeding in infuriating the man even further. He dodged each blow The Beast threw at him. 

Half the crowd was now cheering him on; they saw his potential after seeing him dodge all the attacks The Beast sent his way. The other half of the crowd was of course, cheering The Beast on, they were still faithful to him, refusing to see Syaoran's potential. Of course, most of them probably placed heavy bets on The Beast; they were confidant that he would win the first game. They were just too proud to admit that he could actually lose to this newcomer.

The Beast was furious; he could not actually believe that this amateur was getting the best of him. He was able to dodge and escape all his moves without a single scratch. He had to win; his life was on the line if he didn't. He narrowed his eyes and prepared himself for the next attack.

Syaoran stay tensed, ready to move at any second as he waited cautiously for The Beast's next move. During that time, he took notice of The Beast's armor. It was normal, made of animal hide for easy movement and metal in some areas for more protection. What really caught his eyes was the symbol written onto the man's arm. Syaoran was not able to make out what was written, but from what he assumed, it was probably his name, The Beast. But it was not the word itself that stood out, but the color it was written in: green.

Green, that was the color of _her_ eyes. She was so beautiful, but it was impossible for them to be together, even as friends. It was just forbidden and unspoken of, it was wrong, to even think of it was a sin.

'_Concentrate Syaoran_,' he chided himself. '_Prepare yourself, stop think about her._'

But he couldn't. Syaoran just had to know if she was here watching, if she saw his every move, if she was cheering for him. He grew red at the thought that her beautiful green eyes would be following his every movement.

The Beast saw, as Syaoran seemed to lose focus and took this as a sign for him to go. He charged at Syaoran with great speed, smirking, this was his chance; he was going to end this once and for all. This was where this vexing amateur would see his downfall. And he, The Beast, would be the all time champion; he would live on as a legend, remaining undefeated in battle.

By the time Syaoran moved, it was too late, The Beast had struck, and left his mark on Syaoran. Syaoran fell to the ground slowly and painfully. The crowd watched nervously and with bated breath, the women gasping.

* * *

Paul shook his head, it was such a pity, and the young man had been doing so well, he wondered what could have caught him off guard. 

'_Must have been thinking about his family_,' Paul thought, as the young man lay on the ground, motionless.

Sakura gasped. She could feel his weak green aura fading; he was probably not going to make it, unbeknownst to her, her aura reached out to Syaoran. She knew that the fading aura was a sign of death.

"Are you okay Sakura?" asked Paul worriedly as his fiancé turned pale.

Sakura nodded imperceptibly. "I'm fine." Her voice sounded faint and dull. "I'll be okay, but do you think he will?"

"Don't worry about him," Paul said offhandedly. "He's not the first to have died after all. It's just one of the many sacrifices in the gladiatorial games. This happens all the time, many men have died in this arena. You'll get used to it. I understand how you're feeling, this is the first game you've ever watched, but I'll become normal as you watch more games, that is, if you decide to come again."

"I don't think he's dead Paul," Sakura said after Paul's long, tiring tirade.

Paul turned back to the game and his eyes widened as he saw the young man get up, not showing any indication of having been hurt. It was impossible; all the others had died with one strike. This was just unbelievable. This man was much stronger than he thought.

'_Maybe he'll be the one to finally defeat The Beast_,' Paul thought. '_That'll be the day, no man has ever beaten The Beast, and I highly doubt this gladiator will._'

"Kill him! Kill him!" the people chanted excitedly.

"This is not a good sign," Paul muttered. "The people want The Beast to finish the young man off. That means that this man will probably end up dead, unless he finds a way to turn the whole match around and make The Beast the victim. But it was a good match, I really enjoyed it, he was a really worthy adversary."

Sakura turned even whiter. '_No! You can't!_'

* * *

Syaoran felt a warm pink aura covering his body. He winced at the hurt, but he tried not to show it as he had been brought up to do. Showing emotions was a sign of weakness, he couldn't show the people he was hurting, that would only make him weaker than he already seemed and felt. He felt the blood rushing through his veins, giving him the energy to stand up and face his opponent who was watching in disbelief. His green aura flared up with life, though no one else but Sakura those with magic were able to see it. 

"It's not possible," stammered The Beast, his dark eyes wide.

"You missed," Syaoran smirked, staring at his wound.

"You should be dead," accused his adversary.

"A small cut like this doesn't hurt me," Syaoran said, staring at the open wound embedded on his side.

"Well then, I'll just have to make it deeper so that it does," growled The Beast, holding out his sword. "You're one pain in the ass to get rid of."

"Right back at you," Syaoran murmured.

"You haven't even tried to get rid of me yet," laughed The Beast."

"Exactly," Syaoran said.

The Beast was confused, if one is to win, shouldn't they try to attack? So far all this amateur had done was dodge and receive, never once taking the offense.

Syaoran laughed inwardly at the confused look on his opponents face. For a fellow who fought for a living, he sure was dense and oblivious to what was going on with his opponent. He had absolutely no clue was he (Syaoran) was about to do. And it wouldn't be pretty when he finally figured it out. Syaoran could tell that The Beast was tired; he could see that The Beast was taking heavier breaths; he could see that he was panting. This was good; it meant that he wouldn't need to take as long to get rid of this nuisance.

"Get ready to die," Syaoran muttered as he got into a fighting stance.

The Beast yelled with rage and charged once again at Syaoran, but Syaoran was not going to lose his concentration this time around.

"I WILL win!" he roared.

Syaoran just smirked patiently as the Beast charged at him. He waited until The Beast had almost reached him and dodged his sword, plunging his own into the heart of The Beast.

The crowd gasped as, almost in slow motion, The Beast fell to the ground, the look on his face one of pure shock and utter rage. The Beast had been put in his place; he had been put to rest. The Beast was no more.

Syaoran fell to his knees, using his sword for support and let the realization that he had won take over his body.

"The winner is The Wolf!" yelled the referee.

The Wolf had been the name that Gaius had given him to keep his real name a secret.

All around, the arena was quiet, and then came a deafening roar.

"Wolf, Wolf!" the people chanted, he was their new hero.

Syaoran smiled weakly, he looked towards the royal stands and saw them rise and clap for him. All around the arena, the people were following the royalty, standing up and clapping for him. He was the gladiator who defeated the undefeated Beast.

* * *

Sakura smiled happily as Syaoran was declared the victor. He deserved it. 

"That was a good match wasn't it?" Paul asked.

"It was okay," Sakura said shrugging; she wasn't about to admit that she was on the edge of her seat the whole time. "Will he be taken care of?"

"You mean his wound?"

Sakura nodded.

"Yes he will," Paul said. "Gaius will get him help, see?"

Paul pointed to the middle of the field where Gaius was directing the men to carry out The Beast's dead body. He called two other men to help Syaoran walk out of the arena. Sakura sighed inwardly in relief. He was going to be okay.

"You know, I was thinking that I could invite him over for your ball," Paul murmured into Sakura's ear. "What do you think?"

"No," Sakura said quietly. "I don't want any fighting at my ball. Please, Paul? Promise me you won't invite anyone for entertainment."

Paul sighed. "I promise."

"He can still come though," Sakura said. "Anyone can come, as long as there is no entertainment of that sort. Gladiatorial games will stay in the Colosseum and nowhere else. That is what the Colosseum was built for. We will have food, dancing, and games at my ball, no killing though."

"Very well, I do believe that I told Gaius he could bring some of his students, did I not?"

"Yes you did Paul, my you're forgetting already?" Sakura teased.

"I'm growing old, didn't you know?" Paul laughed.

"Shh, let's watch your father give the honors," Sakura said, she wanted to see him again.

The couple watched as Syaoran/Wolf was given the traditional crown of leaves (A/N: I don't know what it's called). Then Syaoran was helped out of the arena to treat his wound. The next two were called into the center of the field and the horns were blown, signaling for their game to begin.

"Paul, I think I've had enough for one day," said Sakura softly. "I wish to go home."

Paul reluctantly looked away from the match that was just beginning; Sakura could tell he was reluctant to leave.

"You can stay here of course," Sakura said.

"No, I'm your fiancé, I should go with you."

"It's fine," Tomoyo interrupted, showing up behind Sakura, scaring Paul half to death. "Eriol and I will take her back to the palace. You can stay here and watch the games, we'll take care of her, don't worry."

"Thanks," said Paul. "I owe you two one."

"No you don't," whispered Tomoyo as Sakura and Paul exchanged their goodbyes, which consisted of a hug and a kiss on the cheek from Paul (A/N; I'll save the lip-locking action for later when SS get together, okay? Just to keep ya'll happy!). "Staying here and letting Sakura come with me and Eriol is good enough for me. You have no idea what is going on Paul."

"Ready to go Tomoyo?" asked Sakura. "Where's Eriol?"

"He's already outside waiting," Tomoyo said, grabbing Sakura's arm and leading her down the back stairs and out the entrance. "We're going to go visit someone on our way back."

"Who?" asked Sakura, completely clueless.

"An old friend, someone you know," Tomoyo said slyly.

"Oh god Tomoyo, please don't tell me…"

"Yes it is," Tomoyo smirked.

"I'm engaged Tomoyo!" Sakura exclaimed. "You can't go around trying to set me up with other men! Especially men who are under the control of my fiancé! Do you have any idea what will happen to us when Paul finds out?!"

"Yes I do, but it's a risk I'm willing to take," Tomoyo said firmly but quietly. "I know you don't love Paul. There isn't that spark between you two like there is between you and Syaoran. I know you two aren't meant to be. And I've dedicated myself to helping you find the one who you're meant to spend the rest of your life with. I'm not giving up until you are happily married to your soulmate."

Sakura sighed, "Please Tomoyo…I don't want to do this…"

"Sakura, I thought you liked him," Tomoyo said putting her puppy dog eyes on, knowing Sakura couldn't resist. "Besides, he's hurt and god knows he needs some good company right now. And I know he found you interesting. Please, just one visit?"

"All right," Sakura said, she couldn't say no to her best friend, "But just this once. You can't do this anymore after this time okay?"

"Sure Sakura," Tomoyo said happily, crossing her fingers behind her back. '_But knowing after this meeting, you won't be able to stay away from him. You two are going to fall in love, I just know it. I know that you and Syaoran are meant to be, that first look you two exchanged said it all. Plus, having my fiancé be the reincarnation of Clow Reed isn't that bad either. He comes with his advantages…he knows too.' _

"Are you ladies ready to go?" asked Eriol as soon as Sakura and Tomoyo reached him.

"Yes!" Tomoyo exclaimed happily as she took hold of Eriol's arm.

'_This is going to lead to something horrible_,' Sakura thought, she could feel it. '_I do want to see him, but I can't see him, I know what will happen if I continue to see him…I'll fall in love. I can't risk it. There would be too many consequences. I can't fall in love…not when I'm engaged to the future most powerful man in the world. I can't put everyone else on the line for my own feelings…I'll just see him and get it over with…we'll just be acquaintances…that'll work…nothing else…_'

Tomoyo and Eriol could practically see the inner battle that was going on inside of Sakura. They knew that she had a huge crush on the amber-eyed gladiator; they knew that she wouldn't be able to deny her feelings any longer.

After all, love at first sight…is just love at first sight, and is as strong as love that is built on a strong foundation of friendship.

* * *

A/N: when I said '_he knows too_" I meant that Eriol also knows that Syaoran and Sakura are meant to be together. And I'm going to say that I don't really know that if love at first sight is really that strong, but let's just say it is, I mean come on, it is Sakura and Syaoran. And then what about all those books where the guy says, "I fell in love with you the moment I saw you," ????? Mothers fall in love with their children the moment they first lay eyes on them. And I'm proud (and somewhat embarrassed) to admit that I've "fallen in love" at first sight. Actually I've fallen into a deep crush is more like it, but hey, it's close enough I guess. 


End file.
